Breast Cancer

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer occurs when there’s an abnormal growth of cells in the breast, creating a tumor. The cancerous tumor may cause a lump you can feel or change the size or look of your breast.

What are the types of breast cancer?

Where your cancer starts and how it grows determines its type; breast cancer type determines treatment.

Types of breast cancer include:

Invasive ductal carcinoma

Invasive ductal carcinoma is an abnormal growth that starts in the milk ducts of your breast. The milk ducts carry breast milk from your lobules to your nipple.

Invasive lobular carcinoma

Invasive lobular carcinoma is breast cancer that starts in the lobules in the breast, which are the glands that make breast milk, and spreads to other parts of the breast.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)

TNBC is a type of breast cancer that doesn’t have the three common markers that help diagnose breast cancer — estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and HER2 proteins.

Inflammatory breast cancer

Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare but aggressive cancer that looks like an infection.

Paget’s disease breast cancer

Paget’s disease breast cancer is a type of breast cancer that affects the skin around the nipple and areola.

What are some of the surgical options for breast cancer?

Surgery is the primary treatment for any type of breast cancer. However, the type of surgery you need depends on the cancer stage and family history. Breast cancer surgical options include:

Mastectomy

For a mastectomy, Somerset Surgical Associates, LLC, removes the entire breast or both breasts (double mastectomy). Your surgeon may also remove lymph nodes during a mastectomy.

Lumpectomy

Lumpectomy, also called breast-conserving surgery, removes only the cancerous lump from the breast tissue, along with some of the surrounding healthy tissue.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy

Somerset Surgical Associates, LLC, performs sentinel lymph node biopsies for breast cancer. The sentinel lymph node is the lymph node most likely to contain cancerous cells from breast cancer.

For the procedure, the surgeon removes this lymph node and sends it to pathology to check for cancer. If there are no cancer cells, it’s highly likely the cancer hasn’t spread.

Lymph node dissection

If the sentinel node biopsy is positive, Somerset Surgical Associates, LLC, performs a lymph node dissection, removing all the lymph nodes surrounding the cancerous breast tissue.

Somerset Surgical Associates, LLC, also offers balloon implantation for breast cancer radiation treatment following a lumpectomy.

To find out more about breast cancer treatments at Somerset Surgical Associates, LLC, call or schedule a consultation online today.