Research
Mayo Clinic breast cancer surgeons regularly participate in research activities designed to improve care for people with breast cancer.
Areas of research include:
- Helping people with a higher risk of breast cancer. Mayo Clinic researchers found nipple-sparing mastectomy to be safe for women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes undergoing prophylactic mastectomy.
- Personalizing breast cancer treatments. Researchers are working on the latest treatments that take into account your genes and the particular genes of your cancer cells to offer precision medicine for breast cancer. Examples include discovering new biomarkers for targeted therapy and engineering vaccines to prevent breast cancer recurrence.
- Relieving pain after mastectomy. Pain control techniques before, during and after mastectomy are reducing the need for strong pain medications during recovery. This includes procedures such as bilateral mastectomy and mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.
- Understanding how breast cancer develops. Researchers are working to understand the conditions under which breast cancer begins to develop. Research has focused on the unique microorganisms present within the breast. This is sometimes called the breast microbiome. These investigations may yield data that can help prevent breast cancer or devise the most effective treatments.
Publications
See a list of publications about nipple-sparing mastectomy by Mayo Clinic doctors on PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine.