LUMPECTOMY
The awareness among women in the surroundings that a breast mass can be a serious threat to life has increased substantially. Still too many women come too late with advanced breast cancers far out of therapeutically reach (not able to heal or cure). However an increasing number of women are coming earlier to the hospital with breast lumps. Some are inconspicuous benign, some suspicious and some obvious malignant.
We do not have the efficient and sophisticated diagnostic work up as in the western world with mammography, fine needle puncture and frozen section pathology. Here we have to rely on our five senses. If the lump is not obviously malignant or if malignant, but possible to excise completely (cut out) in healthy tissue, we prefer to do what is called a “lumpectomy”. That simply means to cut out the lump with surrounding healthy breast tissue.
When the lump has been excised it is cut and often a reasonable sure diagnosis can be made from the cut appearance and consistence of the removed lump. In the same way that our distinguished surgical forefathers did some hundred years ago.
It is a perfectly acceptable way to treat a circumscribed malignant tumor with reasonable chance of a cure, if there are no signs of distant spread of the cancer.
The subareolar incision is very satisfying from an esthetic point of view, and is used whenever feasible.
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Another esthetic and useful incision for lumpectomy is the sub mammary incision, which lies in the skin fold under the breast.
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