Breast Cancer Treatments

Medical oncology is where some of the greatest advances in survivorship are happening. Today’s systemic treatment options for breast cancer include much more than chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy

Today’s chemotherapy drugs are more effective than ever. Most chemotherapy regimens have fewer side effects than in the past. And if you have side effects, we offer treatments and ways to help manage them.

The chemotherapy units throughout Lahey enhance patient comfort and ease of treatment. Family members or friends may stay with you during chemotherapy treatments. Many of our locations provide free TV service and free WiFi.

Our chemotherapy treatments reflect the Oncology Care Model (OCM) designed by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. With OCM, we provide a wide variety of special support services for patients getting chemotherapy.

Targeted Treatments

For many women chemotherapy can be avoided with a variety of hormonal approaches. We are using targeted treatments to defeat breast cancer at its very core: the molecular level.

Molecular-targeted cancer therapies are drugs or other substances that block the spread of cancer. Molecular-targeted cancer therapies include drugs that:

• Deliver toxic drugs to cancer cells
• Interfere with the signals needed for cell growth or the blood vessels that feed a tumor
• Promote the death of specific cancer cells
• Stimulate the immune system to destroy specific cancer cells

Targeted drugs can be used to address breast cancer cells with a certain genetic makeup, such as the HER2/neu protein. They tend to grow and spread faster than other breast cancers.

Because every breast cancer is unique, we will analyze the genetic makeup of your cancer to match you with the most effective targeted treatment for the best possible outcome.

Hormone/Endocrine Therapy

Hormone therapy for breast cancer can block the body’s ability to produce estrogen and progesterone. This can slow or stop the growth of hormone receptor-positive breast cancers. The discovery and application of more effective hormonal treatments have led to some of the greatest advances in breast cancer treatment in recent decades.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy for breast cancer uses substances made either in the human body or in a lab to boost the body’s immune system. The goal is to stimulate your body’s immune system to fight against your particular type of cancer.

Lahey offers every possible option for breast cancer radiation therapy. This includes leading-edge procedures that can greatly reduce treatment time and side effects.

Breast Radiotherapy

We offer a range of breast treatment options, which allow for a patient-centered approach for choosing the right method of treatment. Our treatment options provide minimal radiation exposure to a patient’s heart, lungs and normal tissue.

We offer techniques such as:

Partial Breast Irradiation (PBI)

Partial breast irradiation is a procedure for those with early-stage breast cancer. After the tumor is removed with surgery, radiation is delivered directly via a thin tube called a catheter to the cancer location. This radiation destroys any remaining cancer cells. Instead of up to two months of radiation treatment, PBI requires just two treatments a day for five consecutive days.

Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (IORT)

Lahey is the only provider in the region to offer intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) as part of partial breast irradiation for women having breast-conserving surgery. This procedure allows you to have a lumpectomy and a radiation treatment on the same day.

External Radiation

External radiation, also called external beam radiation, is the most common type of radiation therapy for breast cancer. In this procedure, radiation from a machine outside the body is focused on the area affected by cancer. External radiation is painless. It’s similar to getting an X-ray, although the radiation beam is stronger.

Radiation Quality and Safety Accreditation

Your safety is very important to us. These are some of our quality and safety initiatives for radiation therapy:

• Lahey uses the XECAN patient care and safety management system. This technology ensures we use the correct treatment.
• We have an overarching safety program called the Radiation Oncology Safety Initiative (ROSI). It focuses on all aspects of radiation oncology that have an effect on safety.
• We are members of the Clarity Patient Safety Organization (PSO), which operates the national Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System. By belonging to a national incident-learning database, we can compare our experience to that of all other participating institutions in the country.
• All of the radiation therapy sites within the Lahey system are accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR). This accreditation ensures we offer high quality, safe patient care.
• Each of our cancer treatment locations are accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC):
  • Lahey’s Breast Health Center
  • Winchester Hospital’s Breast Cancer Center
  • Beverly Hospital’s Breast Health Center at the Lahey Outpatient Center in Danvers

This confirms our quality of care and monitoring of outcomes for patients with breast cancer and other breast diseases.

Lahey’s Division of Radiation Oncology is highly regarded for developing and using specialized procedures to treat breast cancers. In addition to those listed above, these also include:

• Conventional whole breast irradiation
• Accelerated partial breast irradiation: brachytherapy or 3D conformal
• Intensity-modulated radiation therapy

If your doctor recommends breast surgery to treat your cancer, turn to the experienced and caring breast surgeons at Lahey. Lahey’s Comprehensive Breast Health Center offers the most advanced surgical options, including:

• Accelerated partial breast irradiation
• Axillary node dissection
• Lumpectomy  
• Mastectomy 
• Reconstructive surgery using modern techniques with your own tissue or with implants 
• Sentinel node biopsy

Thanks to our excellent breast screening and diagnostic technology, Lahey experts can find cancer in its earliest stages. That means most women diagnosed at Lahey with breast cancer are candidates for breast-conserving surgery, which includes lumpectomy. Speak with your doctor to learn if surgery is the best option for you.

Breast-Conserving Surgery

Surgery for breast cancer has been performed for centuries, but today’s techniques are more refined than ever before. And Lahey’s breast surgeons are experts in performing them. Our focus is to work with you to achieve your personal goals to be cancer-free — while also achieving the best cosmetic outcome.

Breast Reconstructive Surgery

If you aren’t a candidate for breast-conserving surgery, such as if you’re having a mastectomy, Lahey offers breast reconstructive surgery. Our techniques include options for skin-sparing and/or nipple-sparing for those who qualify. Our goal is to actively take care of your cancer while providing you with the best cosmetic result.

Our surgeons’ many years of experience in breast cancer treatment has made us experts in the field. We perform some of the most advanced breast cancer surgery and reconstruction available today. Most patients are now candidates for breast reconstructions performed at the same time as a mastectomy.