Breast Cancer Treatment and Care
Expert Care for Breast Cancer
John Theurer Cancer Center has the largest breast cancer and breast imaging program in New Jersey, offering you a level of experience and expertise that’s unmatched across the state. Our highly trained experts provide you with personalized care and the most effective, specialized breast cancer treatment options. We offer comprehensive services for breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, support and survivorship, as well as breast screenings, care for benign breast diseases and genetic testing, counseling and other services for patients with a higher risk for breast cancer.
Comprehensive Services Include:
- Benign (non-cancerous) breast conditions
- Ductal carcinoma in situ
- Inflammatory breast cancer
- Invasive ductal carcinoma
- Invasive lobular carcinoma
- Triple-negative breast cancer
Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis
Each of our imaging specialists have advanced training in breast imaging and only interpret breast images, providing them with laser-focused expertise.- 3D Mammograms with same-day results: Also called digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), this technology is more sensitive than conventional 2D mammography for detecting breast cancer, especially for women with dense breasts and even for women with fatty breasts.
- Breast MRI: This highly sensitive imaging is sometimes used in conjunction with mammography to screen women who have an elevated risk of breast cancer.
- Breast Ultrasound: We use sound waves to image the breast and provide additional screening information.
- Breast biopsies and timely results: If your breast imaging exams indicate that you need an ultrasound-guided biopsy, we can often provide a same-day biopsy.
- Consultations and Second Opinion: If you had a screening or diagnostic mammogram at another facility, you can seek an additional assessment, biopsy, consultation or second opinion with our team of radiologists, surgeons and pathologists.
- Genetic counseling: Our high-risk breast cancer program provides risk assessment and genetic testing for genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 so we can design follow-up and support care that is specific to your needs.
- Contrast Enhanced Mammography: An advanced imaging technology that combines the benefits of high-resolution 3D mammography with functional imaging performed using a contrast agent. This form of mammography provides information about a tumor’s blood supply, which helps to improve breast cancer detection and imaging accuracy. This technology will allow women with dense breasts, personal or family history of breast cancer, genetic mutations, an abnormal mammogram result, concerning symptoms, or other conditions that increase breast cancer risk. The technology offers an advanced imaging alternative for women who cannot have breast MRI.
Visit our Breast Health webpage to learn more about screening options or schedule a mammogram online today.
Breast Cancer Treatment Options
Every woman deserves personalized, compassionate breast cancer care with the latest, most effective treatments available. Our breast cancer experts combine their clinical expertise with the most advanced technology to provide you with effective, personalized treatments according to your specific tumor type.
Chemotherapy and Personalized Treatment
We study your tumor to identify genetic mutations and learn about the molecular signals involved in your cancer’s growth. We use the results to match you with therapies that will best target the biology of your cancer.
Hormonal Therapy
If lab tests determine that your tumor is estrogen-positive (ER+) or progesterone-positive (PR+), hormonal therapy can be used to block your body's natural hormones from reaching any remaining cancer cells.
Radiation Therapy
- Accelerated (Hypofractionated) Radiation Therapy: Eligible patients can receive a higher dose of radiation delivered over a shorter overall treatment course, reducing the number of weeks you need to come in for treatment.
- Brachytherapy: This treatment involves temporary or permanent implantation of radioactive substances to kill cancer cells.
- Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT): We take images of your tumor before each treatment so we can customize the radiation to its size and shape as it shrinks and changes position, giving you only the dose you need and reducing exposure to noncancerous tissues.
- Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT): IMRT directs radiation of various intensities, shaped to the contours of a tumor, from a variety of angles to destroy tumor tissue while sparing normal tissue as much as possible.
- Prone Radiation Therapy: This advanced treatment allows us to direct radiation to the breast while sparing lung and heart tissue and reducing the risk of late-term side effects.
Breast Surgery
Our breast surgeons are nationally recognized experts with extensive experience in every type of breast cancer surgery.
- Lumpectomy: Only the tumor is removed, leaving the remainder of the breast in place.
- Mastectomy: Our surgeons are experienced performing the different types of mastectomy and reconstruction, including modified radical, skin-sparing and nipple-sparing.
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Our surgeons are highly skilled in the latest techniques, including implants and flap procedures — groundbreaking reconstructive surgeries that require a high level of surgical expertise.
Patient Story
“You always hear stories about cancer, but you never expect to go through it. Dr. Balija and Dr. Graham gave me hope that there will be a tomorrow,” - Silvana M., who was 29 when diagnosed with stage II triple-negative breast cancer, an uncommon and aggressive form of the disease.
Our Doctors
Our multidisciplinary team will include medical and radiation oncologists, breast surgeons, nurse navigators, research nurses, social workers, integrative medicine specialists and palliative care providers.
Why Choose Hackensack Meridian Health
Nationally-Recognized
John Theurer Cancer Center’s breast cancer hospital program received the Gold Seal of Approval™ and Disease-Specific Care Certification from The Joint Commission and accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers by the American College of Surgeons.
Innovation
Our team uses genetic-based precision medicine to select the treatments and therapies best suited for your specific type of breast cancer. We also use state-of-the-art technology to better define how and when to use chemotherapy appropriately and safely.
Patient Experience
Many of our breast cancer treatment centers use an innovative scalp cooling system that helps prevent or reduce hair loss in patients who are receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer.
