Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
>> Treating breast cancer is, it really allows us to be able to work with patients as partners
because breast cancer is a disease that the treatment is really preference based.
And so a lot of my job as a physician is helping the patient understand what their options are
and helping them to explore what is most in keeping with their preferences and values.
We know that there are multiple approaches to treating breast cancer
from a surgical standpoint that lead to similar outcomes.
And so not every patient will be a candidate for all of the different approaches.
But the first thing we obviously do is we think about the clinical situation.
We think about, you know, making sure that the patient gets the surgery
that is going to treat their disease.
But, you know, most patients have choices in terms of do they do breast conservation
or do they need or want a mastectomy.
And then, you know, the issue of reconstruction comes up.
And so really helping patients to understand, you know,
what is involved in each of those procedures.
What does that mean for treatment that wouldn't be needed after surgery?
And then helping people to think about, again, with their own preferences and values
and how they would want to treat this disease, what makes the most sense for them
as an individual patient is really important.
Number one this is cancer.
We're here to treat the cancer.
That's our absolute number one priority.
But, you know, a close second is making sure that we address issues like quality of life
and body image and making sure that somebody feels like, you know, they've been treated
like they were a partner in the care really.