In The News

OC METRO Business Lifestyle Magazine

E-mail Exchange
Online With…

Dr. Lisa Curcio, a Mission Viejo-based surgical oncologist and medical director of Advanced Breast Care Specialists of Orange County. With the Orange County Race for the Cure taking place September 25, it’s timely to discuss one of the latest techniques for the early diagnosis of breast cancer for those at high risk. Dr. Curcio discusses ductal lavage.

OCM: What is ductal lavage? Some have called it the pap smear for the breast.
DR. CURCIO: Ductal lavage is a minimally invasive procedure that is used to sample cells within the ducts of the breast where the majority of breast cancers occur. This involves identifying any ducts that produce fluid with a device similar to a breast pump. If a duct produces fluid, it is more likely to have abnormal cells.

OCM: After the cells are identified, what happens next?
DR. CURCIO: A small catheter is threaded into the duct opening for a short distance. Saline is then sent through the catheter into the ducts to wash the ducts and collect cells. These breast duct cells are then sent to pathology for microscopic analysis to identify atypical cells.

OCM: Is general anesthesia required?
Dr. CURCIO: No. This is an office procedure that is performed with topical anesthetic applied to the nipple and then local anesthesia which is placed inside the ducts. Most women experience little or no discomfort while having this procedure.

OCM: Who should get this test?
DR. CURCIO: Patients who are considered at increased risk for the development of breast cancer: strong family history, a history of a previous breast cancer, those who have undergone genetic testing and have been found to have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene and certain other conditions. This is not a test designed to diagnose breast cancer, but rather take patients who are at increased risk and stratify their risk to be able to better determine which if any intervention they would optimally benefit from.

<<  BACK