If you are diagnosed with breast cancer, you will face many questions about your course of treatment and your road to recovery.

Corona Regional Medical Center (CRMC) helps make these decisions easier for hundreds of women in the Inland Empire. Our new Breast Cancer Surgery Program, the only one of its kind in the Corona area, combines the expertise of Michael L. Cross, MD, a general surgeon on the medical staff at CRMC, with that of Joseph K. Ku, MD, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon on CRMC's medical staff.

"Many women will not only undergo surgical removal of a breast during their cancer treatment, they may also undergo breast reconstruction," says Dr. Cross. "When you go through so many surgical steps, it's good to know that your physicians are on the same page, working together for the best results."

What to Expect
Before undergoing treatment for breast cancer, women meet with Dr. Cross and Dr. Ku to determine the best course of treatment and have their questions answered. Depending on the stage of cancer, therapeutic choices include:

Lumpectomy (also called partial mastectomy). During this procedure, surgeons remove the tumor and some of the surrounding noncancerous breast tissue. Surgery usually is followed by radiation therapy to sterilize surrounding tissue. Because breast tissue is preserved, reconstruction surgery is not needed.

Mastectomy. Surgeons remove the entire breast. Unlike traditional mastectomy and axillary lymph node dissection, the nodes and muscles beneath the breast are left alone. Women who undergo total mastectomy have the option of getting breast reconstruction.

	Michael L. Cross, MD
	Joseph K. Ku, MD

Choosing Reconstruction
"Many women don't realize that breast reconstruction is paid for by health insurance and is considered a normal component of breast cancer treatment," says Dr. Ku.

Women can opt for breast implants made of silicone or saline, to have a breast constructed from their own body tissue or to have a combination of both. Those who choose breast implantation may undergo skin expansion with a tissue expander immediately after their mastectomy; within three weeks, the breast area will be ready for implantation.

If a patient decides against tissue expansion, the breast implant may be covered with a flap constructed from skin and muscle tissue from her back. Patients who forgo breast implants altogether may have a new breast constructed from abdominal tissue, which is called a TRAM (transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous) flap.

To learn more about surgical options available through the Breast Cancer Surgery Program at CRMC, please call 951-736-4888.

800 South Main St., Corona, CA 92882