News Release

Mercy’s Same Day Surgery Offers New Technology to Cancer Patients

In the past 10 years, breast cancer surgery has changed drastically. Ten to 15 years ago, tumors in the breast usually meant women had to undergo radical surgery of a mastectomy or lumpectomy with axillary lymph node dissection. Today, with the use of a small gamma probe, Mercy can offer breast cancer and melanoma patients a minimally invasive procedure that reduces their discomfort and decreases their recovery time.

The gamma probe, called a “Gamma Finder,” is essentially a sophisticated Geiger counter, according to Becky Gluesing, RN and nurse supervisor for Mercy Surgical Services. The probe helps to locate the sentinal lymph node, which is the first node to be identified. Patients utilizing this new procedure first receive an injection of a radioactive isotope in nuclear medicine. After it has progressed to the area where the tumor is located, the Gamma Finder locates the sentinal lymph node, which can then be removed and tested for metastatic cancer.

“By doing this, if the sentinal node is negative, the axillary lymph node dissection may not be necessary,” said Gluesing, which is greatly beneficial to the patient in decreasing the level of discomfort that may have been experienced otherwise.

Introduced at Mercy late last summer, Gluesing said the new technology is now used on a regular basis. While breast cancer patients have been the primary candidates for this technology, it may also be used for patients with melanoma.

“I have seen breast cancer surgery go from always being the more invasive radical mastectomy to performing the most minimally invasive procedure possible,” said Gluesing, who has been with Mercy for 32 years. “With this treatment we do only what is necessary which means less pain and reduced risk of swelling.”