The Youth Movement: Women In Danger

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Sarah Young |

I guess nobody could have scripted this…..two young patients with big problems coming into my office within minutes of each other. Just one of those days. The first had a bad cancer. Everyone who saw her in different disciplines (medical oncology, radiation oncology, other surgeons) had the same uneasy feeling in treating her. A pregnancy had complicated her treatment. Out of this very depressing episode came a beautiful child that the patient brought in a few visits back. She had…

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Surgical Treatment of Breast Cancer: Less Is More

Posted on March 22, 2016 by John Kehoe |

Survival from breast cancer continues to improve. This is great news and comes to us from multiple sources. At the same time, we do smaller, less disfiguring operations than we used to do. Breast cancer attacks a part of the body with tremendous aesthetic and emotional importance. The very mentioning of the condition has evoked in the past (and still today) dire responses from patients and doctors. So without the benefit of modern, smart weaponry and with an earlier, crude…

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New Mammography Guidelines to Detect Breast Cancer and the Kitchen Sink

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Sarah Young |

Aggressive use of mammography has been one of mainstays in diagnosing breast cancer and improving breast cancer survival rates. Over the years we have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at the breast cancer problem. We are getting closer and closer to real success. Now is not the time to step back. Now is the time to throw everything at the breast cancer problem, including the kitchen sink. Which is why the recommendations of the American Cancer Society (ACS) and…

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Breast Cancer and Depression

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Sarah Young |

The stories of cancer patients are always interesting to me. For some it is a mighty life and death struggle worthy of the bravery seen in many of the mythological struggles that fill our literary traditions. What cancer patients go through should be inspiration for all of us confronting the disorders of life. We all have heroes in our lives. In my position I have many heroes (heroines)—all my patients who have had to confront a breast cancer diagnosis, its…

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Breast Cancer, Then and Now…. A Personal Journey

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Sarah Young |

What follows are remarks I made at the time I was honored by the American Cancer Society at the Pink and Black Gala. These remarks were made before a gathered audience at the event after I had received the award from Stacey London and Michele Ippolito, my office director.       I took the opportunity, while looking out at the remembrance section set up for the proceedings to comment about cancer in my life and to offer my perspective on…

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What? Now You Are Telling Me that I DONʼT Have Cancer After Telling Me I DO?

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Sarah Young |

Okay, how are you going to feel if I call you back into my office and tell you that you really donʼt have cancer after I told you that you did and treated you for it? Confused? Forlorn? Irate? I would suppose your would slump in your seat and then call your lawyer. Hold your fire. It is not as it appears. Let me explain. A blue ribbon panel of cancer experts organized by the National Institutes of Health came out with new suggestions…

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Words Matter. Acronyms Matter

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Sarah Young |

 An article appearing in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) from a blue ribbon panel of cancer experts organized by the NIH (National Institutes of Health) made its way into the news a few weeks ago. They attempted to redefine the word cancer by focusing on some cancers that bear the appellation of cancer but donʼt deserve the designation because they arenʼt aggressive enough. They are, in fact, too friendly or too lazy or to idle to cause real damage to humans. In…

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