Medical Oncology
Compassionate, Personalized Care Starts Here
If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, your care team will discuss the various treatment options available to you. Our medical oncologists at the Breast Cancer Program specialize in breast cancer and are experienced in treating all types of this disease, including the unusual and complex. Depending on the cancer stage, the characteristics of the tumor, as well as your individual needs and expectations, our specialists will create a personalized treatment plan for you.
Our medical oncologists treat hundreds of women each year. They have the expertise to help prevent and treat any complications or side effects you may experience.
Understanding and Managing Chemotherapy
Many breast cancer patients need some form of chemotherapy, drugs that kill or disable cancer cells. Treatment includes:
- Before surgery (neoadjuvant chemotherapy): Chemotherapy is sometimes given before breast surgery in order to shrink the size of a tumor and make it easier to remove the cancer, or so that a lumpectomy may be performed instead of a mastectomy.
- After surgery (adjuvant chemotherapy): For those with early breast cancer, or whose breast cancer is localized, chemotherapy may be given after breast surgery. Neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy help lower the risk of breast cancer recurrence by getting rid of cancer cells that might still be in the body.
Changing Lives through Clinical Trials
Johns Hopkins leads and participates in dozens of clinical trials. As home to the first NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in Maryland, you have the opportunity to be part of important clinical trials that offer the maximum potential for access to the future of cancer treatments. The clinical trials program offered through our Breast Cancer Program will closely monitor your condition throughout every step of treatment. These new discoveries not only could benefit you today but will make a big difference in how many lives we save from breast cancer in the future.
Clinical Trials During and After Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer Medical Oncologist and Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Breast Cancer Program Dr. Vered Stearns discusses the importance of clinical trials from diagnosis through survivorship, the way they shape medical care, regulatory and ethical practices in place to ensure patient safety, and how to find out about specific clinical trials in your area.
Meet Our Team of Medical Oncologists
Our medical oncologists are specialists in breast cancer, setting the standard in breast cancer research and treatment.