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Welcome to another adventure in cancer education, and special thanks to the co-chair of this project, Dr Pat Whitworth, and collaborator Dr Monica Morrow.
Although many physicians know the audio programs produced by our group in Miami, we have also been surveying docs for more than two decades about how they take care of patients with cancer. In recent years, our team has conducted many national Patterns of Care surveys, mostly of medical oncologists but also of radiation oncologists and urologists (www.PatternsOfCare.com). This year, as a lead-in to a special satellite symposium at The American Society of Breast Surgeons meeting, we conducted our first Patterns of Care study of surgeons (Figure 1).
The focus was the management of early invasive breast cancer, and in February 2008, our team randomly recruited 100 practicing general surgeons and 28 breast cancer surgical investigators to complete an online Patterns of Care survey, which focused on both local and systemic therapeutic modalities. The major rationale for conducting this study was to obtain a better understanding of the current practice patterns of surgeons as part of interdisciplinary management and simultaneously to identify any differences in treatment approaches between general surgeons and breast cancer specialists. Our ultimate goal was to utilize the results from this project to create a dynamic and relevant discussion platform specifically for a unique live education event at The American Society of Breast Surgeons meeting.
As part of the typical survey procedure we utilize for these studies, after a web-based survey instrument was developed, we asked five docs to go through it and note whether the questions were clear and the interactivity satisfactory. These presurvey participants were also asked to provide qualitative comments, and the first surgeon’s reaction was of great interest (Figure 2). This comment only heightened our anticipation of the survey results.
The dean of breast cancer surgery, Dr Bernard Fisher of the NSABP, would argue that the disease is primarily systemic, and any surgeon treating such patients must be familiar and involved with these issues. In fact, what we see in the survey findings, in contrast to the rural surgeon’s predictions, is a high degree of awareness and information in most surgeons about systemic issues.
— Neil Love, MD
DrNeilLove@ResearchToPractice.com
July 29, 2008
SELECT PUBLICATIONS
Bartelink H. Systemic adjuvant therapies and radiotherapy to the conserved breast: Strategies revisited. Breast 2007;16(Suppl 2):84-8. Abstract
Fallowfield LJ et al. Psychological outcomes of different treatment policies in women with early breast cancer outside a clinical trial. BMJ 1990;301(6752):575-80. Abstract
Franceschini G et al. Update in the treatment of locally advanced breast cancer: A multidisciplinary approach. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2007;11(5):283-9. Abstract
Gralow JR et al. Preoperative therapy in invasive breast cancer: Pathologic assessment and systemic therapy issues in operable disease. J Clin Oncol 2008;26(5):814-9. Abstract
Love N. Patterns of care in cancer
of the breast, colon, lung and prostate. Available at: www.PatternsOfCare.com
Mandelblatt JS et al. Patterns of care in early-stage breast cancer survivors in the first year after cessation of active treatment. J Clin Oncol 2006;24(1):77-84. Abstract
Mariotto AB et al. Dissemination of adjuvant multi-agent chemotherapy and tamoxifen for breast cancer in the United States using estrogen receptor information: 1975-1999. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 2006;(36):7-15. Abstract
Newman LA. Surgical issues and preoperative systemic therapy. Cancer Treat Res 2008;141:79-98. Abstract
Pierce LJ et al. 1998-1999 patterns of care study process survey of national practice patterns using breast-conserving surgery and radiotherapy in the management of stage I-II breast cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2005;62(1):183-92. Abstract
Waljee JF, Newman LA. Neoadjuvant systemic therapy and the surgical management of
breast cancer. Surg Clin North Am 2007;87(2):399-415. Abstract
| SURGICAL INVESTIGATORS COMPLETING THE SURVEY | |
Benjamin O Anderson, MD Harry D Bear, MD, PhD Peter D Beitsch, MD Hiram S Cody III, MD Charles E Cox, MD William C Dooley, MD K Dowlatshahi, MD Stephen B Edge, MD Jennifer S Gass, MD Mehra Golshan, MD Richard J Gray, MD Dennis R Holmes, MD Kevin S Hughes, MD
Ronald R Johnson, MD |
Thomas B Julian, MD Cary S Kaufman, MD Seema A Khan, MD Julian A Kim, MD Tari A King, MD David Krag, MD Henry Mark Kuerer, MD, PhD Sharon S Lum, MD Eleftherios P Mamounas, MD, MPH Monica Morrow, MD Barbara A Pockaj, MD Michael S Sabel, MD Edward R Sauter, MD, PhD Melvin J Silverstein, MD |
| Table of Contents | Top of Page |
Editor's Note
State of the art 2008
Neil Love, MD
Slides and Faculty Comments
Sentinel Lymph Node Biospy (LSNB) Relative to Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy
Sentinel Node Biopsy Injection Site
Partial Breast Irradiation (PBI)
Genomic Assays: Prediction of Benefit from Chemotherapy
Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer
A CME Audio Series and Activity
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