Multidisciplinary Treatment
Breast cancer therapy is a constantly evolving process, and the treatment of breast cancer is constantly changing and requires a multidisciplinary approach to provide optimal care of the patient. Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin are committed to providing up-to-date multidisciplinary treatment for our patients. Through weekly meetings at our tumor board consisting of surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, plastic and reconstructive surgeons and radiologists, we formulate individualized treatment plans for all of our breast cancer patients.
Clinical Research
Tina Yen, MD, MS, Medical College of Wisconsin surgical oncologist, has been awarded $95,000 from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI) to further support her ongoing research on lymphedema after breast cancer surgery. She is currently funded with a five-year NIH/NCI grant studying the incidence of and risk factors for lymphedema in elderly breast cancer survivors. She will use this additional two-year funding available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to examine the relationship between various surgeon and hospital characteristics and the development of lymphedema.
Breast Self-Exams
Breast cancer professionals continue to recognize the value of the breast self-exams as an important part of early cancer detection. Learn more about the exams and get a link to an explanatory video.
DIEP Flap and SIEA Flap Breast Reconstruction
These microsurgical procedures — Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator (or DIEP Flap) and Superficial Inferior Epigastric Artery Flap (or SIEA Flap) — involve precisely separating the skin, fat and perforating blood vessels from the abdomen without removing any of the abdominal muscle. The flap is transferred to the chest, where the blood vessels in the abdominal tissue are reattached to vessels in the chest area. The abdominal tissue is shaped to look and feel like a natural breast. The new breast is made entirely of the woman’s own tissue with a minimal negative effect on the abdominal muscles.
High Dose Rate Brachytherapy
For lumpectomy patients, high dose rate brachytherapy delivers highly concentrated radiation “pellets” directly to the site of the tumor, significantly reducing treatment time and reducing radiation exposure to healthy tissue.
Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping
An exciting technique offered through the Breast Cancer Program, Sentinel Lymph Node (SLN) mapping can prevent unnecessary axillary lymph node removal surgery through use of a simple biopsy of key (or “sentinel”) lymph nodes. A radioactive tracer and dye injected around a tumor in the breast produce a “map” that tells the surgeon precisely to which lymph node or nodes the cancer is most likely to have spread. Those few nodes are then removed and biopsied — rather than removing a large area of lymph nodes, which can result in disfiguring swelling in the extremities and other complications.
MammoSite®
Breast conservation therapy (BCT) allows women with early-stage breast cancer to have their cancer treated effectively while preserving their breasts. This treatment includes a lumpectomy to remove the cancerous tumor, generally followed by seven weeks of external beam radiation to the entire breast.
The MammoSite Radiation Therapy System reduces radiation time to one week or less. This method of partial breast irradiation works by delivering radiation from inside the breast directly to the tissue where cancer is most likely to recur. MammoSite radiation therapy can be completed in one to five days vs. the seven weeks required for traditional external beam radiation therapy. The treatment is given on an outpatient basis.
Genetic Counseling and Testing
The Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Genetics Screening Program provides genetic counseling and testing for people concerned about their personal and/or family history of cancer. The program offers an extensive review of personal and family health history, assessment of cancer risks and the likelihood of a BRCA (breast cancer gene 1 and breast cancer gene 2) mutation in the family.
Inflammatory Breast Cancer
A rare type of breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer, or IBC, accounts for about 3 percent of all breast cancers, but it's something all women should be aware of, including the symptoms and treatment options.