Dr. Dupree Updates Nurses on Breast Cancer Treatment

Beth DuPree, MD, Medical Director, The Breast Health Program, Holy Redeemer Health System, explains her discussion on breast cancer care that she gave to nurse navigators at the 3rd Annual National Coalition of Oncology Nurse Navigators (NCONN) conference.

DuPree offers a unique perspective to nurses because she is a breast cancer surgeon. The highest need for a nurse is continued education because breast cancer is a constantly changing field. Breast cancer care changes based upon clinical trial data. The treatment has changed drastically since 20-30 years ago and will continue to change into the future.

Breast cancer care has moved from radically invasive to what DuPree labels as "humane" treatment. The nurses’ role will be to stay with the patient and educate them throughout the entire care process. Many changes have occurred over the past few years. The introduction of the Z11 data has resulted in the prevention of aggressive and unneeded surgeries.

Since the last NCONN conference a year ago practice has changed significantly with the release of a new trial focusing on sentinel node biopsy at the beginning of 2011. Breast cancer care is an ever-changing field that requires constant updates to stay up-to-date with research and trials.