Personalized Medicine at Midland Memorial Hospital from a Pathologist Point of View
Here at Midland Memorial Hospital we are performing state of the art personalized medicine, including for our breast cancer patients. When it comes to your health, you want to receive the standard of care and when it comes to breast cancer, that is exactly what you receive at Midland Memorial Hospital from our team of board-certified specialists. So, you can stay right here in your own home town to take advantage of all your own personal resources like family support without compromising quality of care.
For many years now the pathology department at Midland Memorial has been performing studies to evaluate the hormone receptor status of a patient’s breast cancer using immunohistochemical antibody stains for estrogen and progesterone receptors. This allowed the oncologist to decide whether or not hormone therapy was an option for patients with breast cancer. The next tool developed for analyzing breast cancer for the purpose of tailoring treatment specifically for the individual patient was for the gene Her2. Amplification (increase number) of the gene Her2 indicated that the patient may respond to treatment with the drug Herceptin. Here at Midland Memorial we are able to provide personalized care by examining the patient's breast cancer for the amplification of this gene by an in-situ hybridization technique.
These types of studies performed by Pathology allow the patient and their oncologist to avoid treatments that would be ineffective at killing the tumor and would have financial cost and potential side effects. These investigations are the standard of care across the country. The studies are helpful for identifying the appropriate chemotherapy. Of course, we also perform the traditional hematoxylin and eosin slide review of the patient’s tumor as well which allows us to identify the histologic grade and the pathologic stage of the tumor along with margin status and possible metastases. This type of evaluation allows us to tailor other types of treatment to each patient’s needs. A positive margin may lead to additional surgery and or radiation therapy.
Here at Midland Memorial Hospital we are proud to be able to provide breast cancer patients with highest quality standard of care without leaving home. We are always working hard to bring the latest innovations home to our community to benefit our patients.