Steven K. Libutti, MD, FACS, is the Director of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Vice Chancellor for Cancer Programs, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Senior Vice President of Oncology Services at RWJBarnabas Health, and Professor of Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Nationwide, pink has become the symbolic color in recognition of and to raise awareness for breast cancer, a disease that one in eight women will develop over the course of her lifetime.
While the statistics can be unsettling, prevention and early diagnosis continues to be a key factor in increasing survival rates. When breast cancer is caught early, the prognosis is often excellent. In fact, according to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer found early and confined to the breast is 99 percent. That is good news.
Even better news is that we have made great strides in cancer research over the last five years, with much advancement in the treatment and prevention of breast cancer, specifically. Together, RWJBarnabas Health and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey execute a multidisciplinary approach that ensures patients are getting the very best care, including access to state-of-the-art technologies, minimally-invasive surgical procedures and the latest clinical trials, as well as the support services patients need throughout their cancer journeys close to home.
Shifting from the linear approach of cancer treatment to an integrated care model enables us to more accurately stage breast cancer and develop individualized treatment plans for each patient leading to the reduction of breast cancer mortality. This multidisciplinary approach brings together medical oncologists, breast care specialists, breast surgeons, certified oncology nurses, and social workers, who work together to create individualized treatment plans to provide the highest-quality diagnostic and therapeutic services.
As one of only 49 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States and the only one in New Jersey, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey provides access to a full range of clinical trials for patients with localized breast cancer, triple negative breast cancer, recurrent breast cancer and advanced stage breast cancer. Our patients have access to NCI sponsored clinical trials, our own investigator initiated clinical trials that have come out of the science and research conducted at Rutgers Cancer Institute, and as part of Rutgers University, our patients have access to clinical trials from the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium. These clinical trials are all available at our facility in New Brunswick and many of them are available close to home at one of the eleven RWJBarnabas Health hospitals so patients do not have to travel far from home for comprehensive and trailblazing treatment.
Our partnership has also helped to eradicate one of the biggest challenges in diagnosing, managing, and treating breast cancer – accessibility. Patients are able to receive the most advanced treatment options for breast cancer, including clinical trials, precision medicine, and immunotherapy close to home. Also, through this integrated delivery network that we are establishing, we will be able to navigate patients to the best location to get the most advanced cancer care quickly.
I urge women to speak to their health care provider about their breast health and screening options for breast cancer. Early diagnosis remains our greatest tool in treating and beating breast cancer together.
The learn more about the clinical trials offered at Rutgers CINJ and the RWJBarnabas Health network visit http://www.cinj.org/clinical-trials. To schedule a mammogram and for more information visit www.rwjbh.org/mammo.
RWJBarnabas Health and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Partnership provides access to state-of-the-art treatments including the latest clinical trials, minimally-invasive surgical procedures and multidisciplinary health care teams