Breast Cancer Multidisciplinary Center

The Breast Cancer Multidisciplinary Center (MDC), located in the Memorial Medical Office Building on the Greenville Memorial Medical Campus, brings together physicians and services from all the crucial specialties—including medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgery, radiology, pathology, fertility, genetic counselors, with access to clinical trials and research. This “one-stop shopping” approach helps us at the Breast Cancer MDC provide you and your family with the most advanced, comprehensive breast cancer care along with the necessary emotional support, while eliminating the delays many cancer patients experience in the course of diagnosis to treatment.

If you are diagnosed with breast cancer, you will be paired with one of our specially trained and certified breast nurse navigators who will be available 24 hours a day to answer questions and provide support. We are committed to continuously evaluating outcomes and making the necessary adjustments to constantly improve the breast care we deliver to the women in our community.

Planning Is Everything

Before scheduling a breast operation, UMG surgeons often work closely with radiologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists. This interaction – whether it takes place under the auspices of the Oncology Multidisciplinary Center (MDC), the Breast Cancer Tumor Board or simply a conference call between colleagues – leads to improved clinical outcomes.
 
For instance, an increasing number of patients are being referred for neoadjuvant chemotherapy to reduce the size of their tumors so that their operations ultimately can be less invasive.
 
In years past, these same patients typically would have gone to the operating table, with plans for their chemotherapy developed after surgery.
 

Changing Mindsets, Evolving Best Practices

In the treatment of breast cancer, both patients and surgeons have been slow to accept some new standards of care. For instance, studies show that approximately 50 percent of women are having mastectomies to eliminate their breast cancer when this figure should be closer to 25 percent. “Seventy percent to 80 percent of women with breast cancer qualify for lumpectomies,” Dr. Blouin emphasized. “There is a misconception that mastectomy is the safest option.”
 
Part of the problem is a lack of understanding of the extent of the cancer and the patient’s overall risk. This fear of the unknown extends beyond surgery into decisions that determine postoperative care, such as need for chemotherapy.  UMG physicians stress the importance of genetic testing to identify those patients at extremely high risk for developing breast cancer  GHS offers genetic counseling and testing for BReast CAncer (BRCA) gene mutations.  For women who have early-stage breast cancer that is estrogen receptor positive and lymph node negative, the oncotype DX test can help determine whether the patient will benefit from chemotherapy. OncotypeDX testing actually analyzes the genes in the patient's tumor cells. In many cases postoperative chemotherapy - and all of its unpleasant side effects - doesn't improve outcomes for these low-risk patients and isn't medically necessary.  "Some just don't need it," Dr. Blouin states.  By the same token, if a cancer patient's tumor and node anaylysis indicates a significant risk of recurrence of the cancer, she most likely should  receive an aggressive treatment regimen.

There also are options for postoperative breast radiation therapy. Total breast radiation is most commonly utilized. However, partial breast radiation is an option for some patients. Partial breast radiation delivers radiation locally to the site where the cancer was removed and requires much less time than total breast radiation, states Dr. Blouin.
 
Dr. Wendy Corrnett, a breast surgeon at GHS states; "As part of planning for each patient's surgery we look at all the tests to make sure we offer the best procedure for each individual patient".
 
To learn more about our surgeons, please follow the provide links.  If you would like an appointment to the Breast Cancer Multidisciplinary Cancer Center or have any questions about our program, please call us at (864) 454-8282.