What advances in breast cancer treatment have made the biggest impact in the treatment of your patients during your career? What is on the horizon in the next 5-10 years?
We’re now able to better define the behavior of each patient’s tumor, and their unique situation, to customize a unique treatment plan for each patient. The advances in cancer medicine over the last quarter century, and breast cancer especially, are emerging at such a rapid rate that I find I am always functioning at the cutting edge. A lot of the therapies that I prescribe to my patients today were not treatment options 5 years ago.
I am grateful that we’re now better able to tailor treatment to each patient and her individual risk of relapse. Not that long ago, over 50% of patients automatically received chemotherapy. Our ability to personalize treatment prevents us from undertreating or overtreating patients.
An exciting advance is that we’re now on the cusp of being able to perform a simple blood test to understand a patient’s trajectory of disease, which will allow us to be proactive with treatment decisions, instead of reactive.
How do you collaborate with other specialties at Smilow Cancer Hospital to care for your patients?
Every new patient that we care for with breast cancer, within the Smilow Cancer Network, is presented at a multidisciplinary conference for a review of their case with colleagues from throughout Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital. This ensures that the personalized treatment plan presented to our patients is representative of a consensus of nearly 60 clinicians, pathologists, and scientists. The multidisciplinary support of my colleagues throughout the Smilow Cancer Network ensures that I am confident in the care plan I present each of my patients.