Expertise & Collaborative Care
Our Shaw Cancer Center physicians are highly skilled across all specialties relevant to the care for our breast cancer patients. With the goal to provide individualized, comprehensive care to each patient, our surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, and radiologists meet weekly for a multidisciplinary discussion known as “Tumor Board.” Tumor board is followed by “Breast Clinic” during which the patient consults with multiple physicians to formulate a cohesive treatment plan.
You're not alone in this journey, Lindy Owens, RN, and Elle Applegate, RN, our breast navigators will assist you by helping navigate from diagnosis through treatment. They will assist you with scheduling doctor appointments, coordinating imaging with radiology, scheduling surgery, and communicating all your needs to your care team.
Radiation Oncology
Under the leadership of Dr. Patricia Hardenbergh, The Shaw Cancer Center utilizes state of the art technology to administer radiation therapy that targets and kills cancer. Each treatment plan is customized specifically for the patient’s anatomy. Types of radiation therapy we use to treat breast cancer include accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) and whole breast radiation with a True Beam linear accelerator.
Medical Oncology
Dr. Alec Urquhart and Dr. Erin Schwab direct care for breast patients who require or would benefit from systemic therapies like chemotherapy, immunotherapy or anti-hormonal therapy. Many breast cancers will express estrogen and/or progesterone receptors. This is one of the ways these breast cancer cells do the things they are not supposed to do. Through stimulation of these cells from the production of normal female hormones, these cells multiply, grow, and potentially go places they don’t belong. The ovaries produce estrogen and progesterone during the normal cycle in menstruating women. After menopause the ovaries no longer produce estrogen or progesterone, but these hormones can be made from the normal conversion of other homones by an enzyme found in normal tissues. Anti-hormonal treatment utilizes oral or injected medications that block this pathway, either by blocking the production of estrogen or blocking the signaling through the estrogen receptor. These anti-hormonal therapy can be very effective, used to prevent cancers from coming back and improving cure rates after surgery, as well as to treat metastatic recurrent breast cancer.
Breast Surgery
Shaw Cancer Center collaborates with a team of specialized breast surgeons including Dr. Stephanie Miller and Dr. Jason Martin.
