FOR YOUR HEALTH: Innovative Technology Improves Patient Experience For Women Undergoing Breast Cancer Treatment

(NAPSI) — A mother, a sister, a friend…many of us know someone who has been touched by breast cancer, the most common cancer among women, affecting an astonishing one in eight women in the United States.

Thanks to technological advances in detection and new treatment approaches, women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer can opt to keep their breast with less invasive surgery and with breast-conserving treatments. In fact, the American Cancer Society estimates that 59 percent of women with an early breast cancer diagnosis (Stage 1 or 2) undergo breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy) versus 36 percent of women who decide to have a total mastectomy. Research has shown that breast-conserving surgery followed by radiation therapy is as effective as a mastectomy in decreasing the risk of local cancer recurrence for most women*.

“One way that breast-conserving surgery is now easier is due to a new innovation in breast cancer treatment—SAVI SCOUT® Radar Localization. This resolves one of the most difficult aspects of breast conservation surgery by eliminating the need to place a wire inside of the breast tissue to locate a tumor,” said Dr. Barry Rosen, Chairman of Department of Surgery at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago; and Assistant Professor, University of Illinois College of Medicine. “Many of my patients who have undergone a procedure with SCOUT® are impressed with the benefits, including shorter procedure times and decreased anxiety.”

Prior to 2015, surgeons generally relied on wire localization to locate a tumor during a lumpectomy procedure. With wire localization, a radiologist guides a thin, hooked wire through the skin and into the tumor on the day of surgery. The surgeon then uses the wire to identify the area of tissue targeted for removal. This resulted in long days of surgery for women, with two procedures performed on the same day. With SCOUT, a tiny reflector, the size of a grain of rice, is placed at the tumor site at any time during the patient’s treatment and well in advance of surgery.

The SCOUT Wire-Free Radar Breast Localization System uses safe, nonradioactive, radar technology to provide real-time and precise surgical guidance during the surgery.

The ability to precisely locate tumors increases the probability of complete cancer removal and reduces the likelihood of needing follow-up surgery, allowing any additional treatments to occur sooner. In addition, the ability to strategically plan the incision may result in better cosmetic outcomes.

SCOUT is also used to effectively localize lymph nodes and tumors prior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (chemotherapy administered prior to surgery) and can be used with any type of imaging over the course of a patient’s care. More than 350 hospitals have implemented the SCOUT System, and to date, over 45,000 women have had a wire-free localization experience.

Learn More

If you would like to learn more about SAVI SCOUT or the SCOUTCare™ program, visit www.ciannamedical.com.