Future Breast cancer treatment

I agree with Dr. Susan Love. The ideal way to cure breast cancer is to prevent it. And thru her pioneering efforts we will do just that. In the meantime we still have to take care of the thousands of women who are diagnosed each year.

One area where we have made great strides is in reduction of side effects and amount of breast tissue treated. For instance, mastectomy used to be the only option for most women. Now, mastectomy is reserved for those who cannot (or will not) undergo lumpectomy and radiation. We have also learned that a sampling of lymph nodes is just as good as a full lymph node surgery for most women. And that partial breast radiation is perfectly suited for some women instead of whole breast radiation. That is a lot of improvement over a short period of time.

I do not usually comment on the "latest and greatest" news item--but this one caught my attention. It is about a robot within an MRI that can detect and destroy breast cancer cells. The only catch. Not ready for prime time until some time in the future. But it is intriguing.

Here is the link
http://gizmodo.com/5062325/robot-prototype-finds-attacks-and-kills-breast-cancer-cells

It is intriguing because this kind of thinking and technology is what leads to further reductions in side effects for women. And in lessening the trauma of breast cancer treatment.

I don't know if a robot can do everything the article says it can. But I do know that just a few years ago the words partial breast radiation, lumpectomy, sentinel lymph node were unknown to most of the world.

So until Dr. Love's vision of prevention of breast cancer is realized we still have to advance our ability to treat women with more finesse and less side effects. We are very good at this.