Tiny livesaver a very big deal for Aussie breast cancer patients
AN Australian first radar technology is allowing surgeons to find and remove tiny breast cancers with millimetre accuracy.
A reflector as big as a rice grain is inserted into the tumour in the days before the operation, so on the big day the surgeon can use a radar probe to find “the cancerous needle in a haystack”.
Not only does it give surgeons more confidence about locating the tumour, but it also removes the need for the patient to have two procedures on the same day; sparing her that stress and making operating lists more efficient.
Mother of two Jodie Talone was the first patient to use the SCOUT radar system at Epworth Richmond in Melbourne on her hard-to-reach cancer.
The 49-year-old was first diagnosed with advanced breast cancer four years ago, and underwent a mastectomy and 18 months of chemotherapy to treat the two tumours that had spread to nine of her lymph nodes.
In November an ultrasound detected the cancer had returned, this time as a small tumour near her collar bone between the two pectoral muscles.
“It was in such a tricky position, being extremely close to the main vein that goes from the neck down the arm,” she said.
“I remember my surgeon saying to me; ‘I’m not confident. I’m going to get multiple options on this.’
“It was scary but I never felt I was alone in it.”
Epworth breast surgeon Chantel Thornton, who bought the technology to Australia through the Epworth Medical Foundation, said trying to localise Ms Talone’s tumour the usual way was not going to work.
The radar technology streamlined the procedure and allowed Ms Thornton to successfully remove all the tumour.