Press Date: 10/01/2009

 Click here to view story

Getting diagnosised with breast cancer can certainly be a devastating blow but it doesn't automatically mean you're going to die from it.

More and more women are beating the disease. In fact, breast cancer survival rates continue to improve with a five year survival rate now at 89 percent. Here to talk about treatment is Dr. Larry Lilly, he is a breast surgeon at Riverside.

Dr. Lilly, thank you so much for being with us today. We appreciate it.

Okay, so you get this diagnosis and people are interested obviously in the stages because you hear these numbers one, two, three, four, what does that mean in the area of breast cancer? Does that change the treatment options obviously?

"It does somewhat. We stage breast cancers, most cancers, from one to four, with one being the earliest cancer and then stage four would is when the cancer has traveled to other parts of the body, other organs and obviously that is an incurable situation. Also in breast cancer we have stage 0 which now 15 to 20 percent of women have been diagnosed very early stage where it is confined to the ducts and is virtually 100 percent curable if found at that stage."

Now speaking of that, because I know this is one option I've heard of more and more many women are elected to, even in this stage 0 phase, to go ahead and just have a double mastectomy being proactive. Are you seeing that as an option on the increase?

"We do see it discussed a lot. We do see it being done. It's probably most appropriate when you have a strong family history or when it's difficult to screen with adequately with mammograms or other testing. But most women do not require that but for a few is a good choice for them."

Are there some new options out there that people may not be aware of maybe that have come onto the horizon in the last few years?

"Well I think the main thing that I found in advancement is the tailoring of the treatment to the individual patient. In the past it was usually a mastectomy or nothing years ago. Now we have much more options open with surgery, breast conservation, different radiation options for short termination therapy verse a longer term when the breast is conserved and there is a lot of different options for systemic disease: hormone therapy and various chemotherapy that been proved great."

How close do you feel we are to finding a cure for this? I know you don't have a crystal ball  but is research seeming to be turning the corner in making some important discoveries?

"There are certainly major improvements as you've pointed out and the cure rate is continuing to go up so I think we will see a cure in gradual increment. Certain cancers respond very well to certain target therapies and there is a lot of effort being done to find those therapies that will not be toxic to the patient but will result in a better survival rate for a particular type of breast cancer."

Alright well 89 percent is encouraging. Thank you very much Dr. Lilly. We appreciate your time with us.