Center for Breast Surgery
Virtua Surgical Group has been committed to the treatment of benign and cancerous diseases of the breast for over 60 years. In 1994, The Center for Breast Surgery was established to focus on the treatment of benign and malignant breast disease. Several surgeons in the group have a specialty interest in breast surgery and maintain their academic and technical skills by regularly attending seminars on the latest advances in the treatment of breast disease. Our surgeons participate in the Virtua Fox Chase Cancer Network and attend weekly multidisciplinary conferences to discuss cancer patient treatment options.
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Adjuvant Treatments for Breast Cancer Breast cancer is treated by several specialty physicians working together. Surgeons, radiation oncologists (doctors treating cancer with radiation), medical oncologists (doctors treating cancer with chemotherapy) and internists/family practitioners.
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Benign Diseases of the Breast The majority of patients evaluated in our office are seen for benign conditions of the breast. Breasts cysts are common in young women and present as a tender mass in the breast. They appear as a smooth walled density on mammography and ultrasound confirms that they are filled with fluid.
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Breast Conservation Surgery With careful screening most breast cancers can be detected when they are small. Small breast cancers can be treated successfully without removing the entire breast. A lumpectomy of the cancer is performed removing the entire cancer with surrounding normal breast tissue.
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Cancer Screening in Breast Patients Patients with breast cancer are at increased risk for uterine, ovary and colon cancer. All breast cancer patients should have a yearly gynecologic exam with a pap smear. Colonoscopy is also recommended to evaluate for asymptomatic colon polyps and cancer
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Interpreting Your Breast Cancer Pathology Report Every time tissue is removed from the body looking for cancer, it is sent to a pathologist for evaluation under a microscope. Over 90% of biopsies performed of the breast reveal benign breast tissue.
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Modified Mastectomy A modified mastectomy involves the removal of almost all of the breast tissue with the axillary lymph nodes. The pectoral muscles of the chest are preserved. Enough skin from the chest is preserved so the incision can be closed without tension.
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Open Breast Biopsy Open breast biopsy is performed in the operating room. Patients are sedated with medicine given through an intravenous line in their arm. Local anesthetic is used to numb the breast. An incision (cut) is made in the skin directly over the mass and the mass is removed.
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Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB) Fluid from the breast drains through lymphatic vessels to lymph nodes located in the armpit. A sentinel lymph node is the first lymph node to receive lymphatic drainage from a tumor. In most cases, this node is the first node involved by cancer if the cancer spreads to the armpit lymph nodes.
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Skinny Needle Biopsy When a palpable solid breast mass is highly suspicious for breast cancer, a needle biopsy in the office can obtain tissue for pathology to confirm the diagnosis. A small needle is quickly inserted into the mass and tissue is removed with suction.
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Stereotactic Core Needle Biopsy (SCNB) Stereotactic core needle breast biopsy is a procedure to locate and biopsy abnormal areas in the breast that cannot be felt. The areas in question are located by mammography (breast x-ray). The abnormalities are either worrisome x-ray shadows (areas of increased density) or clusters of small calcium deposits (microcalcifications).
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Ultrasound Guided Core Needle Breast Biopsy Ultrasound uses sound waves to detect changes in density within the breast tissue and locates solid masses or cystic masses within the breast. Ultrasound does not detect the microcalcifications in the breast that are best seen on mammograms.
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