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Our
Mission
Our practice is dedicated to
advising, counseling, and treating patients who have or have had breast cancer
or who might be at a higher risk than usual of developing the disease. Changes
in medical oncology are coming increasingly quickly, driven by our increasing
understanding of normal and malignant cell workings. Biochemical pathways that
were completely obscure just a few years ago are now in much plainer view,
providing targets for intervention, targets that were unknown only a few years
ago. Pharmaceutical research has led to the availability of new estrogen
receptor inhibitors, drugs that interfere with aromatization of adrenal steroids
to estradiol, various signal transduction pathway inhibitors, monoclonal
antibodies, and many others. Not
only are these drugs new, but in many cases are representative of entirely
new classes of drugs that were completely unheard of only a few years ago.
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as Iressa and Tarceva, and monoclonal antibodies
like Herceptin, are such examples. These drugs are neither chemotherapy drugs
nor are they hormones, but they do have a track record in treating malignant
diseases. Also, they represent the opening of a door beyond which we previously
could not go. Due to the accelerating rate of change in this
field, I do not believe that we can do justice to it if we divide our attention.
That is the major reason for limiting our efforts to breast cancer and its
related aspects. A large part of our ability to provide people access to the
changes that are occurring in breast oncology is by our making available
participation in clinical trials. We are members of the BCIRG (Breast Cancer
International Research Group), the NCI sponsored CTSU (Clinical Trials Support
Unit), and the NCCTG (North Central Cancer Treatment Group), the latter being
the clinical trials group founded by the Mayo Clinic in 1977. The BCIRG is
heavily influenced by the breast oncologists at UCLA, and the National Cancer
Institute in Washington sponsors the CTSU. The major pharmaceutical companies do
a tremendous amount of cancer research and we currently have trials available
through a number of these companies. Our closest ties are probably with Amgen,
Genentech, Aventis, Novartis, and AstraZeneca. We have just opened a trial with
GlaxoSmithKline. We are in a unique position to be able to make available trials
involving the best of the new drugs and concepts that are being developed for
treating breast cancer. We are also involved in the national attempts
at preventing breast cancer. We are strong believers in genetic counseling and
we will be sure to continue to make genetic counseling services available to our
patients. There is a good deal of national interest in breast MRI, and we are in
a position to make these services available also. The economics of breast cancer
prevention are very compelling. It is much cheaper to prevent the disease than
it is to treat it, not to mention the tremendous benefit of avoiding the
emotional and physical problems posed by being diagnosed as having breast
cancer. We are in the process of developing a program for women who have a
higher than usual risk of developing breast cancer, and hopefully this will
allow us maneuvers and recommendations that may result in some women avoiding
the disease altogether. Like all aspects, this part of the field is changing
quickly as well. Our goal is to provide the best advice and treatment to our patients that we possibly can.
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Send mail to sheryl@robertrcarrollmd.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
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