Need Immediate Care?
For emergency services, call 911.
For non-emergency walk-in care, try an ExpressCARE location.
Need help scheduling or have a question?
Call 888-402-LVHN (5846).
Hidden Scar Breast Surgery
Need Immediate Care?
For emergency services, call 911.
For non-emergency walk-in care, try an ExpressCARE location.
Need help scheduling or have a question?
Call 888-402-LVHN (5846).
Facing breast cancer is a pivotal moment in life. Having cancer surgically removed – through mastectomy (total breast tissue removal) or lumpectomy (tumor removal) – has often included scarring as a lasting reminder. But now, Lehigh Valley Health Cancer Institute is first in the region to offer Hidden Scar™ breast cancer surgery, a technique that specially-trained surgeons use to hide the scar from breast cancer surgery.
Hidden Scar breast cancer surgery involves placing the incision in a place that is hard to see after healing, which also helps keep the natural shape of the breast.
For Hidden Scar lumpectomy, the incision may be made in one of these areas:
- Inframammary fold (the natural crease beneath the breast)
- Along the areola border
- Armpit (axilla)
For Hidden Scar nipple sparing mastectomy, the incision is made in
- Inframammary fold beneath the breast
Who is a candidate for Hidden Scar breast cancer surgery?
You may be considered for a Hidden Scar Nipple Sparing Mastectomy if no cancerous tissue is found in the nipple or if you have DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) non-invasive breast cancer. The location and size of your breast tumor also are factors in whether Hidden Scar breast cancer surgery is appropriate for you. In addition, your breast shape and size is taken into account by your surgical oncologist.
For women with a family history of breast cancer who choose risk-reduction surgery, Hidden Scar Nipple Sparing Mastectomy approach may be considered.
Are all types of mastectomies (radical, skin sparing, etc.) eligible for the Hidden Scar approach?
Only nipple sparing mastectomy and lumpectomy procedures can use the Hidden Scar technique.
Am I at risk for breast cancer recurrence if I choose Hidden Scar surgery?
No. Patients who undergo this approach experience optimal clinical and cosmetic outcomes, and are at no higher risk of breast cancer recurrence than patients who undergo any other surgical technique.
Where is Hidden Scar breast cancer surgery offered?
In the Lehigh Valley, only Lehigh Valley Cancer Institute offers Hidden Scar breast cancer surgery. We are first in the region to offer this, and one of only four hospitals in Pennsylvania that offer the Hidden Scar approach.
