Information on Stage 4 Breast Cancer - treatment & facts from Dr. Harness, Pres. American Society of Breast Surgeons. St. Joseph Hospital Comprehensive Breast Center.
Dr. Jay Harness:
Stage 4 breast cancer is by definition breast cancer that has gone elsewhere in the body. In breast cancer the kind of sites we are talking about are bone, liver, lung, brain, and occasionally into the abdominal organs. The size of the tumor can be any size. The involvement of the lymph nodes could be anywhere from none to many but stage 4 then by definition spreads elsewhere to the body. Right now and I really emphasize right now stage 4 breast cancers probably are not curable. But because of modern chemotherapeutic agents we are having longer and longer and longer survivals in stage 4 breast cancer.
Bio:
Jay K. Harness, MD, FACS is recognized nationally and internationally for his work in the fields of breast and endocrine surgery. Over his career, he has established three multi-disciplinary breast centers including the nation’s first academic multi-disciplinary at the University of Michigan in 1985. In 2003, Dr. Harness established the St. Joseph Hospital Comprehensive Breast Center in the city of Orange, California, which is, located Orange County. Over the years, Dr. Harness has held various academic appointments including at the University of Michigan where he attended medical school and did all of his surgical training as well as at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, the University of California, Davis, the University of California, San Francisco, and now currently at the University of California, Irvine.
Dr. Harness is the immediate past-President of The American Society of Breast Surgeons and is President-elect of Breast Surgery International. He has also served as Chair of the Board of Directors of The American Society of Breast Surgeons, Secretary-Treasurer and President of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons. Dr. Harness is a member of the Medical Advisory Board of EmpowHer. He is well-published with 80 articles and book chapters in the medical literature. He has also been the lead editor of two textbooks: Breast Cancer-Collaborative Management (1988) and Ultrasound and Surgical practice: Basic Principles and Clinical Applications (2001).
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