Breast Surgery Demands Specialized Expertise

Many women with breast disease or breast cancer need surgery as part of their treatment plan. 

St. Joseph’s Health provides complete breast surgery care for women and men who have breast concerns or conditions, ranging from benign tumors to breast cancer. Our board-certified, fellowship trained breast surgical oncologist offers standard of care surgical management to all breast disease, whether benign or malignant. We take pride on providing surgical care in most advanced and multidisciplinary way to achieve the best ontologically safe and cosmetic outcome, without the need for postoperative hospital stays or extensive pain control.  Our breast surgeons work collaboratively with medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and plastic surgeons, as needed, to determine the best treatment plan for you and ensure your seamless, coordinated care.

Conditions We Treat

• Benign Breast Disease
  • Fibrocystic and fibroadenomatoid diseases
  • Breast infection
  • Breast inflammatory conditions
• Breast Cancer
  • Multidisciplinary approach (team of surgical, medical and radiation oncologists in addition to plastic surgeon)

Surgical Treatment for Breast Cancer

Several factors dictate the surgical management of breast cancer including the stage, extent of the disease, genetic mutation profile and patient’s own choice. Surgical procedures include:

• Breast Conserving Procedures
  • Lumpectomy:  Removal of the cancerous site in addition to a rim of cancer-free breast tissues.  This procedure can be combined with oncoplastic closure or reduction mammoplasty performed by the plastic surgeon to provide the patient with best cosmetic outcome.
• Breast Removal Procedures
  • Total (or simple) mastectomy surgery: Removes entire breast gland including the overlaying skin.
  • Modified radical mastectomy: total mastectomy plus removal of the entire axillary lymph nodes
  • Skin sparing mastectomy: Removal of all the breast gland, including the nipple but the skin envelope is maintained to be utilized for the immediate breast reconstruction.
  • Nipple sparing mastectomy: same as skin sparing but the nipple areolar complex is persevered.
  • Breast cancer risk reduction surgery: unilateral or bilateral mastectomy, available for those who are at high risk such as patients with known genetic mutation, personal history of breast cancer or atypia, and extensive family history breast cancer. These cases are mostly done with immediate reconstruction.
• Lymph Node Procedures
  • Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy:  Involves sampling the first group of lymph nodes draining the breast, which are identified through an injectable tracer.  This is standard of care for all early diagnosed breast cancers
  • Axillary Lymph Node Dissection: Removing the all of the lymph nodes within the axillary region.  This is done in those patients with metastatic disease to the axillary lymph nodes that have not responded well to preoperative chemotherapy.
• Breast reconstruction:  Done in collaboration with the plastic surgery team, creates a breast shape using an artificial implant or your own tissue (TRAM, DIEP or Latissimus Dorsi flaps). You can have the procedure immediately following a mastectomy or lumpectomy or several months or years after.

Additional Services

• Workup for abnormal findings on breast images or breast symptoms such as nipple discharge or skin changes
• Management of high-risk lesions such as ADH, radial scars or any other atypical lesions
• Screening for those at high risk for breast cancer, including those with known genetic mutations such BRCA genes and others.

Contact Us

Breast Surgery – Totowa
225 Minnisink Road
Room 1253
Totowa, NJ  07512
973-754-4180

Breast Surgery – Wayne
234 Hamburg Turnpike
Suite 100
Wayne, NJ  07470
973-754-4180