Glossary terms Breast Cancer

Breast cancer - Cancer that starts in the breast or is isolated to one or both breasts

Breast reconstruction - Surgery to rebuild a breast mound after a mastectomyBreast Cancer Diagnosis – the diagnosis given after medical tests determine a patient has breast cancer.

Lumpectomy - Surgery to remove the cancerous lump and a portion of normal tissue around the breast cancer lump. The surgeon may also remove some of the lymph nodes under the arm to determine if the cancer has spread.

Mastectomy - Surgery to remove portions of or the entire breast.

Reconstructive Breast Surgery – plastic surgery options to recreate a breast or breasts after a mastectomy or breast deformity. Reconstructive breast surgery may involve one or more procedures. It may also include the use of prosthetic devices (breast implants) or transferring a patients own tissue from one part of the body to the chest area to create a breast mound.

Immediate Breast Reconstruction – Plastic surgery done to reconstruct the breast mound at the time of a mastectomy.

Delayed Breast Reconstruction – Plastic surgery done post mastectomy. Delayed breast reconstruction is done for one or several reasons some factors being the size of the tumor,the timing and type of breast cancer treatments the patient is receiving.

Skin Sparing Mastectomy – A mastectomy performed that limits the amount of skin removed from the breast as to aid in appearance of the immediate or delayed reconstruction.

Tram Flap Reconstruction - Transverse Abdominis Myocutaneous Flap or in layman's terms a "tummy Tuck" Breast Reconstruction

Areola Reconstruction – A plastic surgery procedure that may involve transferring skin from another part of the body to the areolar area on the breast( Free grafting) and shaping in to look like a natural areolar. Depending on the patients skin tones the area may also be tattooed the pink or brown of the patient's natural areolar color. Generally this procedure is one of the final stages of breast reconstruction.

Nipple Reconstruction – A plastic surgery procedure to recreate the nipple complex on the breast. This is generally done by free grafting skin from another area of the patient's body onto the nipple area of the breast. In order to match the color of the nipple on one or both of the nipples tattooing may be used. This procedure is usually done in the final stages of breast reconstruction.

Breast implant - A manufactured, silicone, rubber sac which is filled with sterile saline or silicone gel that is used for either breast augmentation or reconstruction

Silicone Breast implant - A manufactured, silicone, rubber sac which is filled with sterile silicone gel that is used for either breast augmentation or breast reconstruction

Saline Breast implant - A manufactured, silicone, rubber sac which is filled with sterile saline that is used for either breast augmentation or reconstructionBreast Cancer Patient – A Patient diagnosed with Cancer that starts in the breast or is isolated to one or both breasts.

Chemotherapy – A series of treatments using drugs that kill cancer cells.

  For more information on Breast Enhancement, visit Dr. Corbin's other web site www.thebreastexpert.com.