Breast Dr Information

Dr. Farha has had a keen focus on the diagnosis and treatment of benign (non-cancerous) and malignant (Cancerous) breast disease. Throughout his career he’s championed breast conservation therapy (Also known as lumpectomy) in addition to performing mastectomy when indicated or when desired by the patient. Over 70% of his patients are treated with lumpectomy and radiation.

Dr. Farha started performing minimally invasive breast biopsies in the early 90s including stereotactic breast biopsy and ultrasound guided biopsies which are performed in his office procedure room. Most cancers and benign diseases are adequately diagnosed and evaluated without a trip to the operating room.

Another good technique that Dr. Farha adopted in 2000 was Sentinel Lymph Node biopsy. The sentinel lymph node, as the name implies, is the first node to be involved with tumor spread. A negative sentinel node will avoid more extensive dissection of axillary lymph nodes avoiding the unnecessary morbidity of that procedure. Dr. Farha performed the first 70 Sentinel lymph node biopsies in conjunction with axillary dissection. Once satisfied with success of his technique he started performing the axillary dissection only when the sentinel lymph node is positive.

A new addition to our options of treatment is Accelarated Partial Breast Irradiation using Mammosite. The vast majority of lumpectomy patients need breast radiation to reduce recurrence rates. Most in breast recurrences occur within the tumor bed and thus it is felt that radiating that bed will avoid unnecessary radiation to the rest of the breast. This technique helps complete the radiation course within one week instead of the usual 6 weeks of radiation. This technique cannot be used for every patient though and careful selection will help avoid undertreating some patients.