Special Report on Breast Cancer

By Li-Fen Lien Chang, MD, PhD, Vincent Scarpinato, MD and Thomas Summers, DO, FACOI

One of the best ways to determine the quality of medical care is to measure patient outcomes by diagnosis or procedure. Southern Ohio Medical Center Cancer Services are committed to not only providing the best possible outcomes, but also to sharing this information with the medical community and with the public. It is our pleasure to share our 2009 Special Report on Breast Cancer.

The contemporary management of breast cancer is a complex endeavor that requires the involvement of multiple medical specialists. In the traditional model, patients are referred to individual specialists who may consult with each other at specific points in the management process. Often, however, each physician makes critical decisions in isolation. With the availability of more precise diagnostic techniques and new therapeutic agents, breast cancer management has become increasingly specialized and multimodal. Thus, effective breast cancer management now requires a truly collaborative team approach, characterized by ongoing communication and active information sharing among the multiple disciplines involved