St. Clair Health: Fighting Breast Cancer

By Kevin Brown

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s an opportunity to call attention to breast cancer and its impact, as well as to celebrate advances in breast care. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women, but it is also very treatable and preventable. 

The St. Clair Hospital Breast Care Center at Village Square Outpatient Center in Bethel Park offers a comprehensive, team-based approach to help patients meet the challenges of breast cancer head-on. Joining the Breast Care Center team recently in the fight against breast cancer is Sarwat Ahmad, M.D., a breast surgeon who came from Mayo Clinic to practice with St. Clair Medical Group Breast & General Surgery. 

Dr. Ahmad notes that October is a good time for women to become familiar with breast cancer screening guidelines. “Many women in the U.S. will start getting a screening mammogram every year at age 40. Some guidelines recommend starting screenings at age 45. The benefit of mammograms from a 40 to 45 age range varies from patient to patient, and they should discuss that with their primary care physician. Typically, the average age to start screening is 40 and continues annually through 75 or beyond, depending on one’s health” she says.

“Most breast cancers are diagnosed as findings on the mammogram that may or may not have any clinical manifestation,” Dr. Ahmad says. “However, women should maintain a good self-breast awareness and always be on the lookout for changes in the breast that are persisting and bring that to the attention of their physician.” 

Heredity plays an important role in breast cancer, so Dr. Ahmad recommends that women speak with close family members, such as a mother or sister, to discuss their history of breast cancer. “Around 10 percent of breast cancers are associated with a hereditary cause, like a genetic mutation. If a patient has a BRCA 1 or 2 gene mutation, or other known cancer-causing mutations that run in the family, the recommendations for breast screening are going to be different than the average-risk woman,” she says. Genetic testing is offered at the Breast Care Center.

Other risk factors play a role in breast cancer. Dr. Ahmad advises that there is a clear link between obesity and breast cancer. “A Body Mass Index (BMI) of less than 30 is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer, along with maintaining an active lifestyle and avoiding alcohol. Hormone replacement therapy in the post-menopausal period is also something to discuss with your doctor to see if that's going to increase your risk for breast cancer,” she says.

If breast cancer is diagnosed, treatment varies from patient to patient based on the stage. Dr. Ahmad explains that the majority of breast cancers are diagnosed at an early stage. “In the early-stage, breast cancer can be treated with breast-conserving therapy with a partial mastectomy or lumpectomy instead of a full mastectomy, which is the removal of all the breast tissue.”

When surgery is an option, there are additional considerations that help St. Clair experts curate care for each patient. According to Dr. Ahmad, “When we know that the cancer is treatable with surgery, we'll talk about the type of surgery. Then we talk about whether they would benefit from radiation treatment to the breast, hormone-blocking medication to reduce the effect of estrogen on the breast, and other anti-cancer therapeutics. The treatments that are going to be recommended really depend on each patient's breast cancer type. Often, it's a combination of surgery, radiation, and medical therapies such as endocrine and/or chemotherapy.”

The Breast Care Center at St. Clair Health has all the resources and specialists needed to treat breast cancer in one location. “Everything is there, which is great for coordination of care and convenient for patients. The relationships among all the breast specialists from radiology, surgery, radiation oncology and medical oncology allows patients to receive the most coordinated and comprehensive care,” Dr. Ahmad notes.

Collaborations with Mayo Clinic Cancer Care Network and the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center also offer great advantages for breast cancer patients at the Breast Care Center. “There are vast resources available through these expert clinical collaborators,” Dr. Ahmad notes. “From a medical oncology perspective to the surgery perspective, we can discuss complicated cases and see if there's any clinical trials that our patients may qualify for. We have access to educational materials as well, to help both the patients and the physicians providing the services.”

St. Clair Health will host events during October in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For more information about these events and to learn more about the Breast Care Center at St. Clair Health, visit stclair.org/breastcare or call 412-942-4000.