Our Services

We're committed to providing unparalleled cancer care for Greenville and all of Eastern North Carolina. We offer a wide range of breast care and breast cancer diagnostic to help up create a personalized breast cancer treatment plan that's tailored to meet your needs.

Our services include comprehensive surgical care for all breast diseases, benign and malignant including:

• Comprehensive Examination
• Breast Ultrasound for diagnosis and treatment
• Non-surgical needle biopsy
• Breast-Conserving treatment of breast cancer
• Partial Breast Radiation Therapy
• Sentinel Node Biopsy
• Oncoplastic Surgical Techniques
• Prompt referral to high-risk centers for genetic counseling and testing
• Coordinated cancer care with a multi-disciplinary team including medical and radiation oncology, radiology and pathology specialists
• Participation with local support groups for patients with breast cancer and survivors
• Access to educational materials and information sources on breast cancer treatment
• Second Opinion consultations for benign and malignant breast diseases
• Educational materials & information on breast cancer treatment

A breast ultrasound is a safe, painless, and effective tool to provide a greater level of detail in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Using ultrasound techniques very similar to the ones used in obstetric visits, they help providers capture real-time images of the structure and blood flow in the breast. During the exam, the sonographer or physician performing the test will be evaluating the blood flow or lack of blood flow in any breast mass. This information may be able to provide additional information as to the cause of the mass.

Determine the nature of the mass or abnormality – this is the primary use of a breast ultrasound, to help diagnose abnormalities that were discovered during a physical exam and help characterize abnormalities discovered during a mammography or MRI. An ultrasound helps provide a noninvasive option to determine whether or not an abnormality is cancerous or not.

Supplemental breast cancer screening –When a mammogram doesn’t quite give the level of detail a physician needs to make a decision about an abnormality, they may suggest using an ultrasound as a supplemental screening option.

Ultrasound guided breast biopsy –When an ultrasound reveals a suspicious abnormality, a physician may chose to perform an ultrasound-guided biopsy. Because the ultrasound provides real-time images of the area, it can be used to guide the procedure, leading to a greater level of precision with the biopsy.

If you’ve had a mammography that revealed a suspicious abnormality, or if your primary care physician noticed a lump during your physical exam, contact us today and let’s discuss your options for additional screening and diagnostic examinations. It’s these kinds of tools that allow us to work together to find your personalized treatment plan, and it’s these kinds of measures that we use to help change the conversation about breast cancer treatment in Greenville and surrounding counties in eastern North Carolina. 

 Breast biopsies are performed when your physician discovers an abnormality in the breast. Because imaging, mammography and ultrasound alone are not sufficient to determine whether or not the mass is cancerous, a biopsy is usually performed. Today’s non-surgical needle biopsy, also known as an “Image Guided Breast Biopsy” offers a non-invasive alternative to surgical breast biopsy.

Generally, only 1 in 3 women who have a mass in their breast will have breast cancer. Because 66% of women who have a lump in their breast will likely not have breast cancer, a non-surgical solution helps those women avoid any cosmetic issues associated with invasive surgical biopsies.

Using an ultrasound, because it offers real-time images of the breast, the physician will insert a needle in the mass to retrieve a small amount of tissue that will be tested by a pathologist for evaluation.

• Smaller incision
  
• No stitches required
• Small scar (if any)
• No cosmetic reconstruction necessary
• Faster results (usually the next day)

It’s important to note that, just because you have an abnormality, doesn’t mean you have breast cancer. Avoid painful recoveries, cosmetic reconstructive surgery and the long worry about the results, and contact us about a non-surgical needle biopsy today. We are proud to offer these less invasive breast cancer detection techniques for our patients in Greenville and surrounding counties in eastern North Carolina. 

  Traditionally, the most commonly accepted procedure for removing breast cancer in the United States is a mastectomy, or the complete removal of the breast tissue and lymph nodes. This method often meant a complete removal of either one or both breasts.

Thankfully, as medical techniques improved, so has our understanding of surgical breast cancer treatment. The essence of Breast-Conserving Treatment (BCT) is to preserve as much of the breast as possible while achieving an aesthetically acceptable result. While there are many factors that determine the course of action for you surgical treatment, such as size and placement of the incision and management of lumpectomy cavity, breast-conserving treatment can still help reduce the need for reconstructive surgery or prostheses after treatment. 

Benefit to Breast Conserving Treatment

The primary benefit of breast conserving treatment is in the name of the procedure: breast conservation. Through an incision on the upper part of the breast, close to the arm, the affected area is removed but the lymph nodes and non-affected breast tissue is saved. This allows for little to no reconstructive surgery or prosthetic work afterwards.

Breast Conserving Treatment may not be right for every patient. In some cases, you may have a slightly higher risk for a reoccurrence of breast cancer or you may require additional surgeries for clearer margin. While this treatment option may not be right for everyone, it’s still good to know you have options when it comes to your cancer treatment. Additionally, it continues to demonstrate our practice’s commitment to changing the conversation about breast cancer and making sure you have all of the information you need to make the most informed decision for your personal health.

Otherwise known as accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI), Partial Breast Radiation Therapy is becoming the preferred breast conservation therapy for many patients. Partial Breast Radiation delivers radiation from inside the breast and allows your physician to deliver treatment directly to the tumor cavity and surrounding tissue. It is becoming a more popular form of therapy for many women due the shortened treatment time and reduced side effects.

Partial breast radiation provides significant advantages when compared to whole breast radiation. Benefits include:

• Spares healthy tissue, ribs, heart and lungs from unnecessary radiation
  
• Treatment time reduced from five daily treatments over the course of 6-7 weeks to a twice a day for five days
• Limits side effects to a more localized area

Typically, partial breast irradiation is performed within one to four weeks after a lumpectomy. There are a few different ways to deliver the treatment using brachytherapy devices. Your surgeon and radiation oncologist will decide which method is best for your case. A catheter is inserted into the tumor cavity left behind after a lumpectomy and will stay in place until the treatment is completed, usually within a week. The catheter then delivers a radioactive “seed” to the targeted area only avoiding the exposure radiation to healthy tissue.

• Strut Assisted Volume Implant (SAVI): this device has 7-11 “struts” or catheters which are expanded after placement used to deliver the iridium seeds to the site
  

The iridium seed is about the size of a grain of rice and is inserted into the catheters for a total of 5-10 minutes. The seed is withdrawn and then re-inserted six hours later for a total of two treatments a day.

If you are facing these tough treatment decisions and have questions about the possibility of Partial Breast Radiation Therapy, please contact us today and let us help you navigate the path to your recovery.

 A sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is used to determine whether cancer cells are present in the sentinel lymph node. The SLN is removed and examined carefully for signs of abnormalities or cancerous cells.

A negative SLNB result would signify that cancer has not spread to nearby lymph nodes as well as other organs. If the test reveals a positive SLNB result, this would indicate that cancer is present in the sentinel lymph node. It would also be a sign that the cancer may have spread to other nearby lymph nodes (regional lymph nodes) or even, possibly, other organs. This allows your doctor to determine the appropriate treatment plan based on the stage of the cancer.

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy surgery may be an outpatient procedure or can require a short stay at the hospital. During the procedure, a dye, radioactive substance or sometimes both are injected near the tumor to help determine the location of the sentinel lymph node. A small incision is made (about ½ inch) and the node is then removed for the pathologist to review. If cancer cells are present, the surgeon may remove more lymph nodes at that time or may reschedule another surgery for a follow up procedure.

• Avoids a more invasive procedure that takes all of the lymph nodes around the original tumor. By testing the Sentinel Node first, your doctor can determine whether other nodes may need to be removed or left alone.
  
• Lymphedema (swelling or fluid build up) less likely with SLNB than when compared to a lymph node dissection
  

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy is commonly used with Breast Cancer patients to evaluate the spread of cancer to other organs and lymph nodes. Please let us know if you have any questions about this procedure and whether or not it is the right choice for you care.

If you are facing these tough treatment decisions and have questions about the possibility of Partial Breast Radiation Therapy, please contact us today and let us help you navigate the path to your recovery.

  Breast cancer is just as challenging emotionally for women as it is physically. Often times, women struggle with self-confidence, body image and emotional struggles after breast surgery. We don’t take this lightly at Carolina Breast & Oncologic Surgery. We want you to feel just as beautiful after surgery as you did before this journey began. For these reasons, we use Oncoplastic Surgical Techniques.

Oncoplastic Surgical Techniques are most often used with early stages of breast cancer where clean margins are achievable after a lumpectomy. This technique is a combination of oncology and plastic surgery. It is a philosophy that requires forethought and the ability to understand how every move made will affect the aesthetic appearance of the breast for potential reconstruction. The surgeon must take into account aesthetics, breast symmetry and breast function to be successful. Your emotional and physical health are a top priority for us.

Oncoplastic techniques provide more women with the option of lumpectomy with immediate reconstruction, rather than mastectomy. The surgeon must also take into account the volume and shape of the other breast and in some cases, alter the healthy breast as well to maintain a balanced appearance.

• Not all patients will qualify for this type of surgery. It is all dependent on the stage and type of breast cancer you have.
  
• If the surgeon is able to utilize these techniques and clean margins are achieved with lumpectomy, there is no change in reccurrence rate.
  

Please take the time to review all options when it comes to your surgery. Be sure to ask us any questions to help you fully understand what is available and provide you with accurate expectations. Oncoplastic Surgery is a great way to provide you with the best possible care throughout this often difficult journey. We will be with you every step of the way.