Breast Cancer: Defenses and Interventions

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Breast Cancer: Defenses and Interventions

Sheldon Marc Feldman, MD
Chief, Breast Surgery Section
The Clinical Breast Cancer Program
Columbia University Medical Center
In Affiliation with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Phone: 212.305.0728

The second leading cause of death in women after lung cancer, breast cancer claimed the lives of approximately 40,000 women during 2007. Fortunately, effective treatments are available, and most women who develop breast cancer enjoy a long life.

Lowering risk of developing the disease is a woman's first line of defense. The steps our team recommends include:

finding out from your doctor whether you are at high risk;
following a screening regimen appropriate for your age and risk level;
maintaining a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise, limiting alcohol intake to less than one drink per day, and maintaining a normal body weight (findings suggest obesity increases the risk of breast cancer).

As breast specialists, our goal for our patients with breast cancer must be multifaceted. We strive first to provide treatments to ensure a patient's long-term survival, second to prevent recurrence, and third to address quality of life issues including cosmetic outcomes through techniques such as oncoplastic surgery.

Our multidisciplinary approach to breast health includes risk-assessment, medical care, educational programs, and support groups. The center also offers clinical trials of new prevention techniques and breast cancer therapies such as:

interventions for women at higher risk of developing breast cancer;
a new therapy known as accelerated partial breast irradiation, or APBI, which may shorten the course of radiation from six or seven weeks to just one week;
a breast cancer vaccine clinical trial beginning in 2008.

Breast cancer exacts an enormous toll throughout our society, striking women of all ages and backgrounds; the good news is that the numbers tell only part of the story.

For more information, please visit www.breastmd.org.

Quality of Life Interventions from the Columbia University Department of Surgery