Care for Breast Cancer

Treatment Options at RWJBarnabas Health

After a breast cancer diagnosis is made, the oncology team at RWJBarnabas Health takes a multidisciplinary approach to find the most effective therapies. We combine the latest in genetic testing, conventional cancer therapy approaches, and non-surgical breast cancer treatments to develop the most comprehensive care for each breast cancer case. In the event a patient’s cancer is not responding to treatment, we partner with the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, to explore new technologies, techniques, and clinical trials that may be successful.

Standard care for breast cancer includes:

• Surgery: Surgery removes the tumor from your breast and is the most common way to treat breast cancer. In some cases, a lumpectomy is recommended and only the tumor is removed, leaving the rest of the breast intact. Other cases require a mastectomy, when the entire breast is removed. There are different types of mastectomy available such as skin and nipple-saving.
• Radiation Therapy: This type of therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells. It can be used to shrink a tumor before surgery, or it may be used after surgery to kill cancer cells that may remain in the breast or chest area.
• Chemotherapy: This treatment uses powerful medicines to kill cancer cells throughout the body. It may be used to shrink a tumor before surgery or destroy any cancer cells that remain after local treatments. Chemotherapy may also treat tumors that have grown in other places in the body. Breast cancer that has spread is usually treated with chemotherapy.
• Hormone Therapy: This treatment stops the growth of cancer cells that rely on specific hormones. Hormone therapy may be used after surgery to decrease the chance of breast cancer coming back, or of a new tumor growing.
• Targeted Therapy: This treatment uses medicines that target the changes in a cancer cell that make a tumor grow and spread. These medicines either destroy or slow the growth of cancer cells. Targeted therapy tends to have fewer side effects that are less severe than other treatments.

Learn more about cancer treatments.

Looking for treatment close to home? Find a RWJBarnabas Health breast center location near you.