More breast cancer patients can choose smaller surgery

(Carla K. Johnson/ ABC News) — A new breast cancer study finds many women with two or three breast tumors can get by with lumpectomy surgery instead of having their whole breast removed.

In recent years, more patients with multiple tumors have been identified, a result of more sensitive imaging techniques that can reveal tiny, once-hidden cancers. That means more patients are being diagnosed with multiple cancer sites in the same breast.

In the past, doctors would say these women needed mastectomies. Researchers wanted to know: Was this dogma still true? (…)