eHealth Connection | Cooper University Hospital

Breast cancer is a complex, life-changing disease, but today, women with breast cancer have more treatment options than ever before.

The newest breast cancer treatment option available at Cooper Cancer Institute is SAVI^® (Strut Assisted Volume Implant). SAVI^®   is a new technology designed to deliver partial breast irradiation after lumpectomy in some women with early-stage breast cancer.

Radiation treatments for breast cancer can be given with external or internal radiation. With external radiation, also called whole-breast irradiation, high-energy beams pass through the skin to treat the entire breast and eliminate cancer cells that could remain after a breast cancer tumor is removed. Treatment usually takes place daily for five to seven weeks.

With SAVI^® , radiation is delivered from inside the breast directly to the area where cancer is most likely to recur. Brachytherapy delivers radiation from inside the body to treat many types of cancers.

“The SAVI^®  technique reduces radiation exposure to healthy tissue.  Since the dosage of radiation is higher and more precise than external radiation therapy, it can be completed in just five to seven days,” says Ashraf Youssef, MD, a Cooper Radiation Oncologist who is an expert in partial breast irradiation. “Side effects such as skin burning and fatigue are minimized, and most women continue normal activities through and immediately following treatment.”

The SAVI^®  device is a bundle of soft tiny catheters that is placed inside the tissue cavity left by a lumpectomy. Cooper surgeons place the SAVI^®  device at the time of lumpectomy or during a separate surgery. Only a small incision is needed. “Once placed, the catheter bundle expands and is adjusted to conform to the size and shape of the tumor cavity,” says Dr. Youssef.

“During each treatment the radiation dose is individually controlled through tiny catheters – allowing precise targeting,” explains Dr. Youssef.  “This allows the radiation oncologist to deliver the best dose for the affected tissue, and the most protection for surrounding healthy tissue.”

The catheters are soft and flexible.  Most women find them to be relatively comfortable during the weeklong treatment period.

Once radiation treatment is completed, the SAVI^®  device is removed and the incision site is cleaned and closed with adhesive strips.

“Not all women with early-stage breast cancer are candidates for this treatment, but for those who are and for those who choose lumpectomy, the SAVI^®  technique is an exciting new radiation therapy option,” says Dr. Youssef.

For many of us, spring is the time of year we take on many of those household fix-it and clean-up projects that we’ve been putting off for too long. Why not make it the time of year to get your annual medical check-ups and cancer-screening tests, too? What better way to greet this glorious change of season than to start with a clean bill of health?

“We sometimes take better care of our houses than we do our own bodies,” said medical oncologist Robert A. Somer, MD, of the Cooper Cancer Institute.

“Keeping up with regular medical check-ups and cancer screenings is an important part of our health. Talk to your doctor about what tests and services might be right for you, because if problems are found early, they will be easier to treat,” Dr. Somer said.

The American Cancer Society recommends these screening guidelines for most adults:

Breast Cancer

• Yearly mammograms are recommended starting at age 40.
• Clinical breast exam (physical exam by a healthcare professional) about every three years for women in their 20s and 30s and every year for women 40 and over.
• Women should know how their breasts normally look and feel and report any breast change promptly to their health care provider. Breast self-exam is an option for women starting in their 20s.

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Nearly 192,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer each year – the most common cancer found in women. As physicians learn more about this disease and translate groundbreaking research into new diagnostic tools and better treatment options, the number of women surviving breast cancer is increasing dramatically.

Early Detection Means Better Outcomes

Many women never experience any pain or symptoms before being diagnosed with breast cancer. That’s why routine mammograms are so important. Today’s digital mammography is able to detect breast cancer before lumps can be felt or symptoms appear. Early detection not only helps provide a woman with more treatment options, it also increases the probability of good outcomes.
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The ongoing debate over breast cancer screenings may leave you with more questions than answers. At what age should you begin mammography screenings? And how regularly do you need them? Are breast self-exams really a useful early intervention? Are clinical breast exams a beneficial supplement to mammography?

New recommendations released in November 2009 from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) have called breast cancer screening recommendations into question and have sparked debate and disagreement among breast health experts. So what does it all mean for you?
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On a scale of one to ten, Elaine, of South Jersey, described her pain as a 23. A stage IV metastatic breast cancer patient, the 46-year-old mother of three couldn’t move her arm, couldn’t sleep and couldn’t hug her children because the pain was overwhelming.

To help her ease the pain, Elaine’s oncologist, breast cancer specialist Generosa Grana, M.D., Director of the Cooper Cancer Institute, referred her to the Palliative Care Program at Cooper University Hospital. Today, Elaine not only is embracing her children again but has gained a renewed strength in fighting the disease. With medication, she now rates her shoulder pain as a two or a three.

“To finally find someone who could actually understand the type of pain I was in, and treat it while working with my oncologist so as not to interfere with any of my chemotherapy or radiation treatments, has truly been wonderful,” Elaine said. She was referring to Mark Angelo, M.D., Director of Cooper’s Palliative Care Program.

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If you’re a woman with dense breast tissue, or haven’t gone through menopause, or are under age 50, studies show that digital mammograms may be better than conventional film mammograms for detecting early breast cancer.

Both digital and conventional mammography use X-ray radiation to produce an image of the breast.  The difference is, conventional mammography stores the image directly on film while digital mammography takes an electronic image of the breast and stores it directly in a computer. This allows the recorded data to be enhanced, magnified or manipulated for further evaluation.

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