Narrator: This is Science Today. As surgical techniques become more sophisticated and allow physicians to do less of surgery, breast cancer patients are able to recover much more quickly and are available to continue with other treatment regimens. Dr. John Butler, chief of surgical oncology at the Chao Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Irvine, has made a number of advancements with the use of minimally invasive surgical techniques.

Butler: We've made advances in decreasing the amount of surgery and changing it from an inpatient procedure to an outpatient procedure and now we're just beginning to see changes in terms of radiation therapy, where instead of having to undergo radiation for a six-week period of time, the radiation can be completed within a one-week period of time.

Narrator: The UC Irvine center is one of only 39 facilities nationwide designated by the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive cancer center. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.