In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Mariya Rozenblit shares her motivation for treating patients with breast cancer and researching new therapies for the disease:
As we honor breast cancer awareness month, what do you want our patients and families to pause and remember?
We honor our patients’ courage and strength. There is no right or wrong way to cope with this diagnosis and we are here to help our patients in any way that we can.
How do you collaborate with the Breast Cancer team at Smilow Cancer Hospital to care for your patients?
We all work as a team. We have weekly tumor boards with the surgeons, radiation oncologists, pathologists, and medical oncologists across the whole network.
What advances have made the biggest impact in the treatment of patients with breast cancer over the last 5 years?
Over the last five years, treatments have become more targeted and more effective. We are trying to avoid over-treatment whenever we can and making treatment more tailored to the individual.
Clinical trials are often the best option for therapy, how do you explain this to patients who may be hesitant?
Clinical trials are often investigating a drug that may be more targeted or more effective than the current standard of care. Patients enrolled in clinical trials are closely monitored for safety and efficacy. Participating in a clinical trial not only adds to our clinical and scientific knowledge to help future patients but also hopefully provides the participant with early access to a better treatment.
What support can we offer our patients?
Cancer care is multi-dimensional, and it is a team effort. We have an amazing team of medical assistants, nurses, advanced practitioners, social workers, nutritionists, physical therapists, pain specialists, etc., just to name a few! We ask patients to please share with us what kind of support they need, and we will figure it out together.