Ulm revolutionizes breast cancer treatment: fewer operations, better healing!

Ulm revolutionizes breast cancer treatment: fewer operations, better healing!

Ulm, Deutschland - In the Ulm University Hospital, new standards are currently being set in breast cancer treatment. The renowned clinic has played a formative role in the Insema study, which has provided promising knowledge about the treatment of breast cancer. This study aims to enable less invasive interventions without endangering the chances of recovery. Pleasing news for patients: Operations can now be more gentle and shorter. This not only promises less pain, but also shorter hospital stays, as SWR reports.

One of these patients is Julia, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024. She wants to remain anonymous, but her story illustrates how the new treatment methods become tangible. She was operated on two days ago and has only felt slight pain. The Insema study has shown that the removal of lymph nodes in the armpit is not always necessary, which is enormous relief for many affected people. Dr. Visnja Fink, the head of the breast center, underlines the relevance of these findings for the international guidelines for breast cancer treatment.

individual treatments in the focus

One of the main objectives of the Insema study is to target postoperative therapy to the biological tumor characteristics instead of relying on the detection of lymph node metastases. The need for surgical interventions is optimized. Studies show that fewer axillary operations provide equivalent oncological results and help to minimize the risks of surgical complications, so the German Society for Senology.

The study takes place as part of a prospective-randomized design, in which participants with invasive breast cancer are randomized into two groups: one group does not receive axilla operation, the other undergoing a Sentinel lymph node biopsy. In patients with a higher risk of metastases, surgery continues depending on the finding. In this way, doctors receive specific information that helps with the therapy decision.

The breast center Ulm

Annually, around 900 breast operations are carried out in the ULM breast center, which also include chemotherapy. Before an intervention, individual tissue analyzes are appropriate in order to precisely evaluate the risk of relapse and to avoid unnecessary treatments. It should be emphasized that the patients are accompanied by specially trained nurses, the so -called Breast Care Nurses. This ensures holistic support during the entire treatment process.

In addition, current studies such as the survive study are actively communicated to improve aftercare. A new concept enables the smallest tumor cells to be detected in order to draw conclusions about possible relapses. Julia, who was only recently operated on, also takes part in this study and sees optimistic into the future, as [the study platform reports] (https://studien.hochschul- Medicine-Dresden.de/studien/insema).