New approaches to surgery for breast cancer

The surgical management of breast cancer is rapidly evolving towards less invasive procedures. Alternative biopsy techniques, including fine-needle aspiration and core needle biopsy, are replacing excisional biopsy as the treatment standard. Breast conservation therapy is now widely used in place of mastectomy, both for small tumors and for larger tumors that have been downstaged through induction chemotherapy. Less invasive procedures for axillary treatment such as lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph-node biopsy are being explored in an effort to avoid the morbidity associated with axillary lymph-node dissection. For women who still prefer or need to receive a mastectomy, immediate breast reconstruction with autologous tissue provides an excellent cosmetic outcome that is oncologically sound. This is especially appealing to high-risk women who opt to have a prophylactic mastectomy. High-risk women are also being offered the option of receiving chemopreventive treatment that may reduce their lifetime risk of cancer by almost 50%. These new, less invasive approaches require the close cooperation of a team of physicians,including surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, and medical and radiation oncologists.