With the advice of Professor Alberto Luini, breast surgeon e co-director of the Senology Project of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan (IEO).
There are 40 thousand new cases of cancer at the breast registered in our country every anno. The good news is that in the face of a increment of the incidence of this pathologywe are witnessing hand in hand with one decrease of the tasso from mortalitythanks to an improvement in the therapy availablemuch more targeted is in phase surgical both in phase post–operativeand the techniques diagnostic cutting edge that allow you to to discover the neoplasia in one stadio precocious.
Among these is the technique ROLL (Radioguided Occult Lesion Localization) for the localizations from the injuries non palpable (which today represent 30 percent of the cancers observed), conceived by Professor Alberto Luini with colleague, professor Giovanni Paganelli.
Straight to the center
It’s a methodical tuning by the European Institute of Oncologistsa and is one of the most used in the world for detect little ones node o calcifications. Generally, it is practiced the afternoon before or the morning of the surgery itself.
It is a radio-guided technique, explains the professor Luini, a breast surgeon, who uses a substance called albumin, conjugated with technetium – a radioactive isotope -, injected to specifically identify the site of the lesion. It is a pre-surgical centering for which the presence of two professionals is required, the radiologist, who identifies the exact point where to inject the albumin, and the nuclear doctor. During the operation, the surgeon has at his disposal a probe that detects the presence of the isotope through a signal, and a monitor to find the precise point where to intervene, called the point of maximum uptake.
Password: safety
The technique ROLL does not involve contraindications o effects secondaryas the substance it does not spread in the bodyremains localized e he comes then disposed of. “To remember”, underlines the specialist, “is that albumin is also administered to identify the sentinel lymph node, that is the first axillary lymph node. The only difference is the diversity of its molecular weight, which must be heavier for centering.
For proper prevention
- The crucial first step is l’autoesame (an important step in health education).
- Lead one stile from vita adequate: do not smoke, do physical activity, follow a healthy, balanced diet with a reduced calorie intake.
- Undergo early stage diagnostic investigations with mammography ed ultrasound. The first is recommended starting from 40 years, because from this stage of life onwards the breast loses density. Previously an ultrasound is preferable. The combination of both tests makes it possible to recognize the lesion in all cases.
- The resonance magnetic it can be supportive when it is appropriate to further characterize the lump or calcification.
- “In the last two to three years”, concludes the surgeon, “it is spreading the tomosynthesis technique, that is of the stratification of the breast: a small CT scan, which allows to examine the mammary gland as if the glandular tissue were dissected. The last frontier is the mammography with contrast medium”.