[ti:Breast Cancer Study Could Change How Early Growths Are Treated] [ar:Pat Bodnar] [al:Health Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:02.61]Health Report. [00:03.98]Have you ever felt lumps [00:05.85]under the skin on the sides [00:08.15]of your neck when you were sick? [00:10.14]Those might be lymph nodes. [00:13.25]They can get swollen and painful [00:16.86]but their job is to fight infection. [00:20.09]Lymph nodes are part [00:22.97]of the body's defenses known [00:24.84]as the lymphatic system. [00:26.83]This complex system [00:30.13]throughout the body makes [00:32.24]and transports a protective fluid [00:35.85]called lymph. [00:38.15]Lymph is made of white blood cells, [00:41.26]proteins and fats. [00:44.06]In a patient with breast cancer, [00:47.73]the cancer can spread [00:49.91]to the large number of lymph nodes [00:52.47]under the arm. [00:53.53]Doctors have traditionally removed [00:56.83]many of these lymph nodes [00:59.00]in the hope of removing all the cancer. [01:01.80]But the latest research [01:04.85]finds nothing to gain [01:06.72]by removing so many lymph nodes. [01:09.02]Doctors have two choices [01:11.94]when breast cancer starts to spread. [01:14.74]They can do what is called [01:17.67]a sentinel node biopsy. [01:19.35]They remove the main growth and one [01:23.08]or two lymph nodes nearest to it. [01:25.88]Or they can take more aggressive action [01:30.11]and remove a lot of lymph nodes. [01:33.28]But that can lead to shoulder pain [01:36.20]and permanent swelling of the arm. [01:39.50]Dr. Armando Giuiliano [01:42.80]at the John Wayne Cancer Institute [01:45.91]in Santa Monica, California, [01:48.02]was a leader of the study. [01:50.63]He found that a sentinel node biopsy [01:54.43]can be enough to eliminate [01:57.23]all of the cancer. [01:58.35]And the patient does not need [02:01.27]to stay in a hospital to have it done. [02:04.13]Dr. Giuliano and researchers [02:07.62]at other American cancer centers [02:10.35]studied almost nine hundred [02:13.21]breast cancer patients. [02:14.71]In each case, the cancer had spread [02:18.81]to no more than two lymph nodes. [02:21.86]Half of the women had [02:24.78]the traditional surgery. [02:26.22]Doctors removed an average [02:29.33]of seventeen lymph nodes. [02:31.56]The other half had the simpler operation [02:35.48]with just one or two nodes removed. [02:38.41]Then both groups received [02:41.33]radiation treatment and chemotherapy drugs. [02:44.71]Doctor Giuliano says [02:47.44]rates of survival five years later [02:49.99]showed that the less invasive operation [02:52.92]was just as successful [02:55.16]as the more aggressive action. [02:57.83]ARMANDO GIULIANO: "The five-year survival [02:59.84]was about ninety-two percent regardless [03:02.73]of which operation. [03:03.79]And, wonderfully, women who [03:06.88]had the sentinel node biopsy alone [03:08.50]did just as well as the women who [03:10.24]had the more radical operation." [03:11.61]The study appeared in the Journal [03:14.91]of the American Medical Association. [03:16.77]Some experts say the findings [03:19.63]could change the way surgeons [03:22.18]treat early breast cancers that [03:25.17]have spread to the lymph nodes. [03:27.35]But other doctors say they want [03:29.96]more proof before they make a change. [03:33.26]And that's the VOA Special English [03:36.55]Health Report. [03:37.49]You can get more health news [03:40.29]along with transcripts and MP3s [03:43.33]of our reports at 51voa.com. [03:48.45]And we invite you to visit [03:51.00]the all-new mobile version of our site [03:54.36]on your phone or other device. [03:57.85]I'm Pat Bodnar.