Foundation Team
Medical Editors
Joann G. Elmore, MD, MPH
Clinical Advisors
Caryn Aviv, PhD
E. Dale Collins, MD
Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA
Jay R. Harris, MD
Monica Morrow, MD
Kay Pearson, RN, BSN
Sandra Walters, RN
Clinical Leads
Julie Beauregard, MLIS
Women with early stage breast cancer may have a choice in surgical treatment. Each option has certain advantages and disadvantages. To help women understand their options and make the right choice for them, the Foundation has developed a Shared Decision-Making® program called Early Stage Breast Cancer: Choosing Your Surgery.
This program is for women with early stage breast cancer who are able to choose either a mastectomy or lumpectomy with radiation. It may be used as a companion program to Early Breast Cancer: Hormone Therapy and Chemotherapy.
This program provides information on mastectomy and lumpectomy with radiation therapy. Survival is similar for most women with either option. The treatments differ in appearance after surgery, time and energy required for treatment and recovery, and risk of local cancer recurrence. How a woman feels about these factors will likely determine which treatment she prefers.
The program showcases real patients who chose mastectomy or lumpectomy. They describe the factors that influenced their decisions and share how surgery affected them both physically and emotionally. The program also includes interviews with two surgeons.
This program was developed with our production partner, Health Dialog. It is available as a DVD, a booklet and a web-based program (Health Crossroads®) for Health Dialog members.
