Email this pageComprehensive Breast Care Program
Breast Cancer
One in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Some risk factors related to breast cancer are controllable, such as maintaining a healthy lifestyle, getting regular mammograms and performing breast self-exams. Other risk factors are inherent, such as family history. No matter what your risk of breast cancer, take charge of your health. Perform self-exams monthly, have an annual clinical breast exam, and have an annual mammogram once you reach age 40 (or sooner, as directed by your physician). If you experience breast pain or feel a lump, seek care immediately. To learn more about breast cancer, choose from the options below.
Treatment Options
Surgery
Surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible is the primary treatment for breast cancer. Modified or simple mastectomy are used more often than radical mastectomy (complete removal of the breast tissue and muscle). Generally, surgery also includes removal of some or all of the regional lymph nodes.
There are several options in breast cancer surgery:
Breast conservation (tissue-sparing) surgeries include...
lumpectomy -- removal only of cancerous tissues and a portion of normal tissue
partial (segmental) mastectomy -- removal of one-quarter or more of the breast, and possibly the lymph nodes under the arm
Mastectomy:
simple or total mastectomy -- removal of the entire breast, but no lymph nodes from under arm nor muscle tissue from under the breast
modified radical mastectomy -- removal of the entire breast and lymph nodes under the arm
radical mastectomy -- removal of entire breast, lymph nodes, and the chest wall muscles under the breast
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy involves the use of high-dose x-rays to shrink the breast tumor. Click here to learn more about radiation therapy.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is drug therapy for cancer. Click here to learn more about chemotherapy.Clinical Trials
Participation in a clinical trial may also be an option for you. Click here to learn more about open trials at Guthrie.
Reconstruction
Choosing or forgoing reconstructive surgery is a personal decision, and your choice will be influenced by your age, your preference and tolerance for undergoing additional procedures, your overall health, your feelings about your breasts as part of your appearance and their influence on your body image and self-esteem. Discuss your options with your physician. Click here for more information about reconstruction.
Follow-Up Care
Following completion of your treatment, you will continue to see your surgeon every six months for five years, and annually after that. You will also be enrolled in Guthrie’s Cancer Registry, which tracks cancer patients and their outcomes as part of a demographic health database.
The following support services are available once your treatment is complete:
Support Services
Emotional support for newly-diagnosed breast cancer patients and their families is offered by Helen Harshbarger, MS, CRNP and Annette Coe, LPN, breast care educators who have completed special training to work with patients and their families. Referrals can be made for patients requiring more advanced psychological support. In addition, educational materials about breast care are available from Guthrie’s Breast and Imaging Center – call 1-888-4GUTHRIE. The following support groups are available for breast cancer patients and survivors:
Breast Cancer Support Group
A support group for anyone newly-diagnosed with breast cancer or who has experienced breast cancer in the past. Participating in this group may be beneficial for women prior to surgery in order to assist them in making treatment decisions. The group meets to share experiences, information and strength. Support group is from 1-2 pm on the third Wednesday every month in the Learning Center O in the School of Nursing Building call (570) 882-2265.
Cancer Support Group
Provides opportunity for any person experiencing a cancer diagnosis to share concerns, feelings or problems. For more information, call (570) 882-5076 or 5071.
Look Good…Feel Better
A service offered by the American Cancer Society and Robert Packer Hospital, this session is for patients currently undergoing cancer treatment. Trained cosmetologists teach participants how to deal with the side effects chemotherapy and radiation can have on skin and hair. For more information or to register, call the American Cancer Society at 1-888-227-5445.
Reach to Recovery
The American Cancer Society trains breast cancer survivors as volunteers who offer their support to newly-diagnosed breast cancer patients. Patients personally determine when contact is most beneficial. The referral is made during the hospital stay.
Patient Perspectives
You can draw strength and hope from this story of survival.
"I’ve had cancer twice in my life – lymphoma as a teenager and breast cancer as an adult. Both times, I’ve turned to Guthrie for my treatment – why go anywhere else when the care I needed was right in my backyard? When I discovered a lump during a breast self-exam five years ago, I called the Breast and Imaging Center right away, and thanks to the 24-hour guarantee, I got in for a mammogram right away. When the lump turned out to be cancer, Helen Harshbarger in the Breast and Imaging Center answered questions for me that I wasn’t even able to verbalize because of the state I was in. Her caring really made a difference. I had a mastectomy the next week, followed by eight treatments of chemotherapy. Six months after my treatment was complete, I decided to have my other breast removed prophylactically to prevent a recurrence. All my doctors made me feel that my choices were the right ones for me – they respected my decisions, and never told me that they thought I should have done something else."
-- Ann Horton, East Athens, PA
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