CentraState - Healthy Directions

Choosing the Right Breast Cancer Treatment for You In modern medicine, one of the more invasive treatments for breast cancer is a procedure known as a bilateral mastectomy—a form of breast surgery that removes both of the patient’s breasts in order to rid the body of cancer. While effective, it is a radical type of surgery that leaves the patient scarred. “Bilateral mastectomy is not always a better cure,” says Renee Armour, MD, a board-certified breast surgeon with Armour Breast Surgery and on staff at CentraState Medical Center. “Many of my patients who are better candidates for breast conservation come into the office with a false belief that bilateral mastectomy is the only way to survive, and that if they have a bilateral mastectomy they have a higher ‘chance of being cured,’ which is not accurate.” Dr. Armour continues, “I think it is important for woman to realize that breast conservation therapy can give an overall survival rate equivalent to mastectomy. So those patients who are lumpectomy candidates and are not BRCA gene mutation carriers do not have to choose mastectomy.” With continued efforts paving the way to a better understanding of breast cancer and its various forms of treatment, the road to a better recovery is now more open then ever before. For more information about breast cancer treatment services, visit www.centrastatecancercenter.com or call (855) 411-CANCER. The Women’s Health Center at CentraState CentraState’s Women’s Health Center is a special place for women, combining technical expertise, customized health education and counseling services. The comfortable, private environment at the Women’s Health Center helps ease anxiety women may have when dealing with their health, as well as uncertainties regarding mammograms and diagnostic procedures for detecting signs of breast cancer. The Women’s Health Center is accredited in mammography and has been named a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology (ACR). The Women’s Health Center is the only facility in western Monmouth County—and one of only 34 imaging facilities in New Jersey—to receive the Breast Imaging Center of Excellence designation by the ACR. The Women’s Health Center at CentraState provides the following breast health services for women: • Breast needle localization • Digital mammography • Stereotactic needle biopsy (STNB) • Ultrasound-guided breast biopsy For more information about treatments and services available at the Women’s Health Center, call (732) 294-2626. To schedule an appointment at the Women’s Health Center, call (732) 294-2778.

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