About Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer is today’s second-leading cause of cancer death in American women — lung cancer is the leading cause. While research continues to seek ways to prevent, detect, and treat breast cancer, it is essential you stay informed so that you can make smart decisions about your health.
New Breast Cancer Therapy Introduced - IORT
When breast cancer is caught early, there is now an option that could help individuals avoid weeks of radiation treatment.
Lakeland physicians are now using the ZEISS INTRABEAM® Intraoperative Radiation (IORT) therapy system to deliver a targeted single-dose of radiation to the site of the tumor after a lumpectomy.
The IORT program at Lakeland began at the end of 2016, since then:
- 31 people have been able to use IORT therapy at Spectrum Health Lakeland
- 52 weeks of radiation therapy have been eliminated
- Over $1,000,000 in costs to patients has been saved
Traditional external high-beam radiation requires patients to undergo daily radiation to the whole breast for a five or six-week period. The new therapy minimizes radiation exposure to healthy tissue and organs. It has also proven less costly, with limited side effects.
Online seminar: Breast cancer and reconstruction surgery
Watch as general surgeon, Maria Rapciak, DO, and plastic surgeon, Nicole Phillips, MD, discuss surgical options for treating breast cancer and how reconstruction following a mastectomy can help women feel confident in their body again.