A new study of New York State data finds that the number of women opting for surgery to remove the healthy breast after a cancer diagnosis in one breast is rising, despite a lack of evidence that the surgery can improve survival.

Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers presented a new study to evaluate the impact of a tracking and feedback registry on breast cancer surgery patients. Presented at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting in San Diego, the study shows that a tracking system is key to improving rates of medical oncology consultation, reducing rates of adjuvant treatment underuse, and eliminating racial disparity in treatment.

The use of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) during breast cancer surgery increased substantially from 1998 through 2005, according to an article published online March 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Infections at the incision site occurred in more than 5 percent of patients following breast surgery and cost them more than $4,000 each in hospital-related expenses, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Only a third of patients with breast cancer discussed breast reconstruction options with their surgeon before their initial surgery, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

A new study finds that most general surgeons do not discuss reconstruction with patients before surgical breast cancer treatment. The analysis shows that only one in three patients eligible for mastectomy or breast conserving surgery have such discussions.

Smaller-framed women reap significant health and quality-of-life benefits from breast reductions that involve the removal of under 500 grams of tissue per breast, according to a first-of-its-kind study from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and the New York University School of Medicine.

The use of hypnosis prior to breast cancer surgery reduced the amount of anesthesia administered during the operation, the level of pain reported afterwards, and the time and cost of the procedure, according to a study published online August 28 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Giving chemotherapy to women with operable breast cancer before they have surgery -not after - helps physicians pin down the best treatment regimen and can reduce the extent of surgery, according to a new systematic review.