The purpose of this blog is purely educational. It does not advise any reader to forgo medical treatment for any condition. It describes methods that have not yet been proven effective through widespread scientific testing. Readers who are concerned about their health are advised to contact their physician.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Revolutionary new study on breast cancer surgery

A new study has found found that for certain women with breast cancer, removal of cancerous lymph nodes is quite unnecessary, and may even be harmful.

One by one the old surgical shibboleths about breast cancer are falling by the wayside, first radical mastectomies, and now this. A doctor is even quoted as saying “I have a feeling we’ve been doing a lot of harm” by routinely removing lymph nodes that did not need to be removed and causing unnecessary suffering for thousands of women who developed complications such as infections and lymphedema.

The study has found that for women with early stage breast cancers "about 20 percent of patients, or 40,000 women a year in the United States — taking out cancerous nodes has no advantage. It does not change the treatment plan, improve survival or make the cancer less likely to recur."

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