iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
What once seemed like attractive economics have been upended by increasing competition and rising interest rates
KT APPDOWNLOAD
More breast cancer patients can choose smaller surgery
Lumpectomy's advantages include quicker recovery and better cosmetic results, reveals a new study
A technician displays images of a mammogram scan on a computer screen at a hospital in Odessa, Texas. — AP file
Many women with two or three breast tumours can get by with lumpectomy surgery instead of having their whole breast removed, a new study suggests.
In recent years, more patients with multiple tumours have been identified, a result of more sensitive imaging techniques that can reveal tiny, once-hidden cancers. That means more patients are being diagnosed with multiple cancer sites in the same breast.
In the past, doctors would say these women needed mastectomies. Researchers wanted to know: Was this dogma still true?
They followed nearly 200 women with two or three tumours in one breast who had lumpectomies followed by radiation. The patients ranged in age from 40 to 87. To take part in the study, their tumours had to be less than 5 centimetres and separated by 2 to 3 centimetres of normal breast tissue.
After five years, just 3 per cent saw cancer come back, similar to rates from previous lumpectomy studies in patients with only one tumour. The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, was being discussed Friday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
“This study caught my attention very quickly," said Dr John Kiluk, a surgeon at Moffitt Cancer Centre in Tampa, Florida, who was not involved in the research. “It is definitely a step forward for our field.”
Lumpectomy's advantages include quicker recovery and, often, better cosmetic results.
No surgery guidelines existed for these patients, but some doctors already were offering lumpectomy as a choice, said Dr Judy Boughey of Mayo Clinic, who led the research.
“This will make them more comfortable with that approach,” Boughey said. "And I think it will also make patients ask their surgeon, ‘OK, I have two sites of disease. Do I have to have a mastectomy? Or can you give me breast conservation?’”
The study did not randomly assign patients to lumpectomy or mastectomy. That would have yielded better data, but it would be nearly impossible to find women willing to be randomly assigned, Boughey said, making such an experiment impractical.
In the study, the women who had an MRI before surgery did the best, suggesting MRI scans may help surgeons be more thorough at removing cancer.
The study is part of a larger research movement aimed at avoiding overtreatment and unnecessary side effects by “right-sizing” cancer care, Boughey said.
“Do we have to throw the kitchen sink at everyone?" she asked. "Which patients need every single option that we have available and which will do just as well without having the kitchen sink thrown at them? Every single treatment has some kind of side effects.”
More news from World
While they have taken steps to help prevent mishaps, a new report finds they offer few protections if, for instance, users accidentally send money to the wrong person
In total, the Dutch giant has announced that they will remove around 10,000 positions by 2025
He was found starving and dehydrated, almost a week after he went missing
The solid, silver-coloured cylinder is just 8mm by 6mm but the authorities say it contains enough Caesium-137 to cause acute radiation sickness
Official says talks are under way with the US on supplying long-range missiles
The country is also considering discontinuing power subsidies, new tax on raw materials for exports, and hikes in power and gas tariffs
Remote work injects more chaos and angst into a difficult experience