Promising New Advancements in Breast Cancer Detection and Treatment

Our panel of experts shares the latest advancements in breast cancer detection and treatment that are empowering all women.

What new developments have improved the experience of breast cancer patients the most? 

Over the years, there have been major advances in detecting breast cancer earlier, such as tomosynthesis, breast MRI, and contrast-enhanced mammography. These methods have saved many lives. However, they come with downsides, like radiation, discomfort, injections, and high costs. It’s been over a decade since a new breast imaging technology was introduced — until now. Recently, opto-acoustic (OA) imaging technology was approved. This new approach uses laser light, sound, and AI to provide radiologists with detailed information about the mass’s structure — without the negative side effects. With OA imaging, more patients will receive an “all clear” result, avoiding unnecessary follow-up exams and potentially invasive procedures like biopsies.

How have these changes made it easier for patients to handle their diagnosis and treatment? 

Medical societies are working to clear up confusion about when women should begin annual screenings for breast cancer. Starting at age 40 is important for all women, but recent studies also highlight a key issue: many women don’t return for regular screenings after a false positive exam or biopsy. One study found that women, especially in Asian and Hispanic/Latinx communities, were 20% less likely to return for screening after a false positive. With new technology like OA imaging, doctors can gather more accurate information to rule out cancer, reducing the chances of false positives and unnecessary biopsies. This helps both patients and radiology staff — it’s a win-win!

What common challenges, like emotional stress or side effects, have these advancements helped with?

New advancements in imaging technology are better at detecting cancer, but they also come with challenges. To avoid missing cancer, women often undergo multiple diagnostic exams — usually three — before a biopsy is performed. However, 75% of these biopsies turn out negative. Being called back for additional exams or a biopsy can cause intense emotional stress, as women often fear the worst, wondering if they have cancer and how it will affect their family and future. This anxiety can be as overwhelming as that experienced by women who are actually diagnosed with cancer. Opto-acoustic technology can help reduce this emotional stress by improving the accuracy of diagnoses and providing real-time information, leading to fewer unnecessary biopsies and less anxiety for women.

How do you think new ideas will improve care for breast cancer patients in the future?

New technologies like OA imaging are changing the way we diagnose breast cancer. By reducing the number of negative exams and unnecessary biopsies, this technology helps keep women more engaged in their annual screenings. It also saves time and money for both patients and the already overburdened radiology staff. OA imaging is beneficial for all women, regardless of skin color or breast density, and it doesn’t require uncomfortable procedures like compression, contrast agents, or radiopharmaceuticals. The OA exam is similar to an ultrasound, which is generally well-tolerated and often preferred by women.

What can be done to make sure all patients can benefit from these new improvements?

To ensure all patients benefit from these improvements, it’s crucial that women regularly get screened. When something suspicious is found, the next imaging exam should provide detailed information about the mass’s blood flow, helping radiologists accurately determine whether it’s benign or malignant. This will allow more women to return to routine screenings, reducing the need for additional exams and invasive biopsies. To make this happen, we need more opto-acoustic imaging systems in breast centers. While adoption may take time, we must continue educating hospitals and breast centers about the benefits of this technology for both patients and staff.

What new developments have improved the experience of breast cancer patients the most?

Advancements in breast cancer care have moved beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. Surgical options like breast neurotization now allow women to regain not only the aesthetic appearance of their breasts but also sensation, restoring a critical connection to their bodies. This transformative option empowers women to reclaim touch, warmth, and intimacy after mastectomy, fundamentally improving their quality of life.

How have these changes made it easier for patients to handle their diagnosis and treatment?

Restoring sensation through procedures like breast neurotization addresses physical and emotional challenges. Women feel safer. Regained sensation helps them detect burns, cuts, or irritation, reducing risks of injury. Psychologically, reconnecting with their bodies can ease feelings of detachment, helping them move past the constant reminder of their cancer journey and fostering emotional healing.

What common challenges, like emotional stress or side effects, have these advancements helped with?

Post-mastectomy chest numbness often leaves women feeling disconnected and incomplete. Breast neurotization mitigates this by restoring protective and intimate sensation, enabling women to feel the warmth of a hug or the safety of touch again. This advancement reduces emotional stress, enhances self-confidence, and supports full recovery, helping women reclaim control over their lives and their sense of normalcy.

How do you think new ideas will improve care for breast cancer patients in the future?

As survival rates increase and early detection improves, breast cancer care can expand focus to quality of life after treatment. Future innovations will likely integrate personalized surgical techniques and new technologies to enhance sensation restoration, emotional well-being, and overall recovery, ensuring every patient feels truly whole after cancer.

What can be done to make sure all patients can benefit from these new improvements?

Raising awareness among patients and providers is critical. Women should know they can advocate for important options like nerve reconstruction as part of their treatment. With greater education and access, more women can embrace a future where sensation restoration becomes a standard part of breast cancer care.

Can you explain what shared decision-making means in the context of breast cancer surgery and why it’s so important for both patients and providers?

Shared decision-making is the collaborative process where the patient and their healthcare providers work together to make decisions for the patient’s care. When you think about a lot of aspects of medicine, in particular surgery, there’s often one clear best recommendation, but I think what is unique about breast surgery is that there are often many options that the patient can have that have a similar cancer outcome. For breast surgery decision-making, shared decision-making is critical.

If a patient comes in with a devastating diagnosis and there’s really only one operation for them, that’s a pretty straightforward conversation. When the patient comes in with a breast cancer diagnosis, there are often at least two options for them — and within those two options, multiple additional options. It really comes down to a shared discussion between the patient and the physician.

This shared decision-making is a back-and-forth discussion between the patient and the provider to discuss the pros and cons of each approach. It’s important for the physician team to listen to the priorities of the patient. For most patients, the first priority is to, of course, get rid of the cancer and treat it appropriately, but what are the other priorities? Is it the time away from work? Is it maintaining their own breast? Is it symmetry? Is it finances? Is it fear of radiation? Hearing all the aspects that are concerning to the patient is important so that the patient and the physician can come up with a treatment that is the most appropriate for them, together.

How can someone know if they are at high risk of developing breast cancer?

Some women are at high risk because of a known disease-causing mutation, most commonly in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Such mutations are more common in women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and Black women. 

Prior radiation therapy to the chest before age 30, and at least eight years earlier, also creates a high risk for breast cancer, as does a personal history of breast cancer. Women at high risk are recommended to have annual screening with MRI and to add mammography after age 30.

Combinations of other risk factors may also put a woman at high risk. Factors to be considered include:

• Family history of breast cancer, especially if diagnosis was before age 50 or in multiple relatives on the same side of the family
• Prior breast biopsies, especially atypical biopsies
• High body mass index (BMI over 25) after menopause
• Combination estrogen and progesterone hormone supplements
• Dense breasts (heterogeneously dense or extremely dense) on a mammogram report.

Formal risk assessment should be done by age 25 and then every few years if new family history or other risks develop. A lifetime risk of 20% or more is considered “high risk.” Over 20% of women in their 40s are at high risk, but fewer than 1% of women in their 70s are at high risk, and screening MRI is not usually recommended beyond age 70.

What new developments have improved the experience of breast cancer patients the most?

Innovation in the operating room is long overdue, given the pace of advancements in breast cancer detection and treatment. Innovation and improvement are needed in all facets of cancer care. We’re proud to lead the way in image-guided cancer surgery with the U.S. launch of LumiSystem™, the first and only imaging combination product approved for detecting cancerous tissue where and when it matters most, inside the breast cavity, in real-time, during the lumpectomy procedure. 

How have these changes made it easier for patients to handle their diagnosis and treatment?

Advances in technology, like Lumicell’s fluorescence imaging are profoundly impacting how patients handle their breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. For many women, deciding between a mastectomy or a lumpectomy is a difficult and emotional, largely due to concerns about whether all the cancerous tissue will be removed. The fear of missing some cancer and needing a second surgery, or worse, experiencing a recurrence, can be overwhelming.

With fluorescence imaging, however, surgeons have a powerful tool to detect breast cancer that may have otherwise gone undetected during surgery. This technology serves as an important ‘second look’ during cancer removal surgery. I believe this technology gives patients much-needed reassurance, knowing that their surgeons can check more thoroughly for cancer that might have otherwise been missed and help them feel more in control of their treatment journey.

What common challenges, like emotional stress or side effects, have these advancements helped with?

One of the biggest challenges cancer patients face, especially after treatment, is the constant worry that the cancer may return. Even after surgery, many patients fear that some cancer might have been missed. This ongoing worry can be emotionally draining and lasts long after the surgery is over. I believe that advancements like ours may reduce the stress of uncertainty, helping patients focus more on healing and less on the fear that the cancer wasn’t fully removed.

How do you think new ideas will improve care for breast cancer patients in the future?

Innovations like Lumicell’s fluorescence-guided Direct Visualization System are just the beginning of a new era in breast cancer care. As we look to the future, I believe that new technologies will continue to focus on improving the accuracy of surgeries, reducing the emotional stress for patients, and increasing the chances of better long-term outcomes.

Ultimately, the goal is to make the treatment journey smoother and less emotionally taxing for patients, giving them more confidence in their treatment and more time to focus on recovery and life beyond cancer.

What can be done to make sure all patients can benefit from these new improvements?

While innovations like Lumicell’s Fluorescent-guided Direct Visualization System are groundbreaking, ensuring all patients can benefit from these advancements requires overcoming several barriers. One major challenge is that even FDA-approved technologies don’t immediately become available to all patients, due to reimbursement complexities and the costs associated with implementing new technologies in hospitals.

Private and government payers play a critical role in expanding access to these innovations. There are opportunities to explore new reimbursement models that can make cutting-edge technologies more accessible in women’s health. This could include offering incentives for hospitals to adopt these advancements or adjusting insurance coverage to make it more affordable for patients.

Patients also have an important role in increasing access through advocacy. By connecting with cancer societies, advocacy groups, hospitals, government representatives, and insurance providers, patients can help push for policy changes that make life-saving innovations more widely available. Whether it’s through individual efforts or collective action, advocacy can influence coverage and improve access.

In the future, it’s essential that these innovations reach everyone who needs them, regardless of location or financial situation. By collaborating with patients, healthcare providers, and policymakers, we can ensure that all breast cancer patients have access to the improved care that these technologies off.