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Continued From Page 24 by a nipple-sparing procedure . She now serves as a “ buddy ” to other newly diagnosed young women , giving patients an opportunity to see the future through her eyes .
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey By Bruce Haffty , M . D ., MS , Chair , Radiation Oncology ; Associate Vice Chancellor for Cancer Programs , System Director of Radiation Oncology , RWJBarnabas Health .
Proton therapy is a unique type of radiation treatment that can precisely target and deliver high radiation doses to a tumor to kill cancerous cells and has seen rapid growth in recent years . Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the Laurie Proton Therapy Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital New Brunswick , an RWJBarnabas Health facility , is the only hospital-based program in the state to offer this select form of treatment . Proton therapy can be beneficial for select breast cancer patients by minimizing damage to nearby tissue and critical organs . A patient in her late 30s and in the early months of her first pregnancy was facing a second breast cancer diagnosis in 2016 . Because she already received radiation during
her first diagnosis , our team decided that proton therapy would be the best treatment option for her . Following her pregnancy , she received treatment to the impacted area while radiation was spared to the surrounding tissue previously irradiated . Given the prior radiation , proton therapy offered a distinct advantage . There are also other situations where proton therapy may have an advantage based on the location , patient ’ s anatomy and other factors . Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey , the state ’ s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center , also participates in a national clinical trial evaluating proton therapy in breast cancer .
RWJBarnabas Health , Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton By Firas Eladoumikdachi , M . D ., Director , Breast Cancer Program ; Breast Surgical Oncologist in the Stacy Goldstein Breast Cancer Center , Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
Treatment for many diseases , including breast cancer , has improved due to findings from clinical trials . As New Jersey ’ s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center , Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey , together with RWJBarnabas Health , is able to provide breast cancer patients with novel treatments due to the availability of clinical trials that are not available at other hospitals , clinics or doctor ’ s offices , as well as targeted treatments and multidisciplinary care . Recently , a 26-yearold patient was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer , an aggressive type of breast cancer with a high risk of recurrence and worse prognosis than other invasive cancers . This normally would be treated with upfront traditional chemotherapy followed by surgery ; however , we were able to enroll the patient in a phase 2 clinical trial at Rutgers Cancer Institute in which a different regimen of two chemotherapy drugs were given before surgery and resulted in complete response of the cancer to this treatment . The patient continued the clinical trial by finishing the third chemotherapy drug and then proceeding with radiation therapy after surgery at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton , an RWJBarnabas Health facility , and is currently cancer free and being followed closely with mammogram and MRI imaging .
Breast cancer affects one in eight women during their lives .
with co-host Mary Gamba
Sunday 10:00am