Dr. Sheldon Marc Feldman, chief of Breast Surgery and Breast Surgical Oncology and director of Breast Cancer Services at Montefiore Einstein.

Dr. Sheldon Marc Feldman

Three experts in breast surgery, medical oncology and reconstructive surgery share their insights on the importance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Experts Break Down Key Insights During Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Three leading experts in breast surgery, medical oncology and reconstructive surgery share their insights on the importance of awareness and advancing care during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

CURE sat down for interviews with Dr. Sheldon M. Feldman, Dr. Evan Garfein and Dr. Komal Jhaveri.

Feldman is the chief of Breast Surgery and Surgical Oncology, and director of the Breast Cancer Services at Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Garfein is chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Montefiore Medical Center, and professor of Surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Finally, Jhaveri, a breast medical oncologist, is section head of the Endocrine Therapy Research Program, clinical director of the Early Drug Development Service, and Patricia and James Cayne Chair for Junior Faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a chance to recognize survivors and support those currently in treatment. In this video, three physicians share their thoughts on progress in care, patient empowerment and what continued awareness can achieve. Let’s hear from them.

: Breast cancer is such an important part of our world, unfortunately. Almost anybody you talk with, friends, colleagues, everyone's been touched by this disease, either in their own family or a friend. It's just, unfortunately, such a huge part of our culture. So I think for patients and people to understand, even as aware as we are, we can be more aware.

Screening and early diagnosis are really the best we can do. We don't have yet, and what we really want, is a way to completely prevent this disease, right? We don't want to be treating it, even early. We don't want to be treating it. We want to be stopping it from happening. But until we get to that point, by finding disease at the earliest possible stage, patients are not going to die. They're going to have minimal treatment. They won't have to go through anything too harsh, and they'll be OK. So, continuing to beat the drum about awareness is extremely important so that if patients are diagnosed with breast cancer, they're diagnosed as early as possible.

: It's super important, obviously. Breast cancer touches everyone. You can't find someone who doesn't have a friend, relative or coworker who hasn't been touched by this disease. Breast Cancer Awareness Month has always been very powerful. It's a great opportunity to turbocharge people to have a conversation with a friend, loved one or relative about breast cancer and treatment.

: I think we all know October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And ... what is so important about that? It's not just about wearing pink, the way I am, or just to support pink, or buy pink, or show pink ribbons. I think it's really bringing our thoughtfulness and our awareness into action. It's not just making people aware, but it's utilizing ways to put this into action. Because we want to work on promoting early detection. We want to work on promoting innovation and science. We want to work on fueling this research and supporting our patients overall and the survivors with compassion and focus on the survivorship issues.

Last but not least, we also want to promote equitable care. So, I do think that awareness is necessarily where change begins, but action is how we actually save lives. So, we really need to come together as a community, and October is just a way for us to do that and think about that together as a community, so that we can act towards these goals and help our patients.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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Videos

Dr. Sheldon M. Feldman says patients with breast cancer should accept support and make exercise and wellness priorities during treatment to improve outcomes.

Why Should Patients With Breast Cancer Prioritize Wellness?

Prioritizing wellness and accepting support are essential parts of breast cancer care, as discussed by Dr. Sheldon M. Feldman in an interview with CURE on site at Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Bronx in New York City.

Feldman, chief of Breast Surgery and Surgical Oncology and director of Breast Cancer Services, explained that many people with busy lives often put themselves last while caring for others. After a diagnosis, patients are encouraged to focus on their own needs and make their health the top priority.

He emphasized that supportive programs can help patients receive care and connection throughout treatment. Regular exercise also plays a critical role, helping to reduce recurrence and improve heart health. Feldman recommended that patients incorporate consistent physical activity, such as 45 minutes of cardio several times a week, as part of their overall care plan.

What would you like patients to take away from our discussion?

Well, I think one of the biggest challenges we have is for patients, when they're going through a breast cancer diagnosis, to accept the fact that they can't do this alone. They have family and friends, but I would say you're now the center of the universe. Particularly women who have busy lives — they work, they have family and they're always last on the list of priorities.

By looking at supportive services and the programs that we can offer to them, for them to elevate and really take advantage of that, all the important things are coming to them — all the love and support that they have — to be the center of the universe. And that's not an easy thing. That sounds great, like I want to be the center of the universe. Actually, patients have a hard time with that. Of course, they're not used to being in that role. They're used to being the caretaker, the provider, doing a million different jobs, and they’re always last.

Exercise is extremely important for reducing breast cancer recurrence and for general health — obviously, heart disease is a worse problem than breast cancer — so exercise is great to prevent heart disease and obviously important to prevent recurrence. So I say to women, “Well, you've got to exercise four or five times a week, 45 minutes of cardio.” They look at me like, “I can't do that.” It's like, “My life can’t.” No, you need to do that. This is important. This is as important as the medication that we might give you or the treatments that you might get.

To begin to sort of embrace that — that this is really a comprehensive approach to wellness — it has to include all the aspects.


Dr. Sheldon Marc Feldman explores Reiki’s potential to reduce stress and anxiety for patients undergoing breast cancer surgery at Montefiore Einstein.

Reiki Therapy Evaluated to Ease Stress During Breast Cancer Surgery

Reiki therapy, an ancient Japanese practice meaning “universal energy,” is being studied for its potential to ease stress and anxiety around breast cancer surgery, explained Dr. Sheldon M. Feldman, chief, Breast Surgery & Surgical Oncology and director, Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center Breast Cancer Services.

He shared that his interest in Reiki began early in his career when patients asked to include energy healers as part of their care. Over time, he noticed those who received Reiki before and during surgery often seemed calmer and recovered with less pain.

Feldman and his team are now conducting a randomized, prospective study comparing Reiki to sham Reiki to measure its effects more objectively, including by tracking cortisol levels. He noted that reducing surgical stress is a crucial part of supporting patients through what can be one of the most challenging experiences of their lives.

What inspired you and your colleagues to explore this kind of therapy alongside traditional medicine, right?

So, the history of my involvement with Reiki healers actually began with many different kinds of healers. Reiki — “Rei” meaning universal and “Ki” meaning energy—is an ancient Japanese practice that’s over 100 years old. It’s one of many forms of energy healing that have been used through the years.

One of the earliest types of energy healing was something called therapeutic touch, which was actually originated by a nurse many years ago. The concept was that touch itself could have healing potential.

Early in my career, I had experiences with patients who were newly diagnosed with breast cancer and asked for some “healers” or nontraditional healers to be involved in their care. These healers were there to support them through the process. When a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer—especially if she may lose her breast and undergo a mastectomy—it’s a huge life event. It’s not only about the fear of dying from breast cancer, but also the physical loss, which can be very profound.

Finding ways to help support patients through that traumatic experience became very important to me, and it was actually patients who first approached me with the idea. One patient said, “I have a friend who’s a healer. She does Reiki. I’d like her to be involved in my care. Could she come before surgery and during surgery?”

Initially, I was a little skeptical, simply because it wasn’t really proven. What I would do was consider it, but first interview the person. I wanted to make sure that, especially during surgery, there wouldn’t be any issues—because if someone didn’t interact well in the operating room, that could be dangerous.

I did that with a number of patients, and I was really impressed by their responses. They seemed to recover from surgery with less pain, and mentally they went into surgery in a much calmer state than I expected. Anecdotally, over the years, I’ve offered Reiki around the time of breast cancer surgery to many patients. It’s always been a select group—patients who were motivated or already familiar with energy healing and believed Reiki could help them.

That experience led us to decide we needed to do what we call a pivotal study, which we’re conducting now. It’s a randomized, prospective trial where patients receive either Reiki or sham Reiki. The sham Reiki isn’t real Reiki, since those administering it aren’t Reiki practitioners, but the experience, maneuvers, and protocol are all carefully scripted, so patients don’t know which group they’re in.

We’re evaluating their responses, including their stress levels, by measuring cortisol to provide an objective assessment of Reiki’s effectiveness. I think it’s very powerful. Surgery of any kind is incredibly stressful and anxiety-producing for patients, so whatever we can do to ease that experience is definitely important.

Dr. Sheldon Marc Feldman explores Reiki’s potential to reduce stress and anxiety for patients undergoing breast cancer surgery at Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center.


Dr. Sheldon Marc Feldman

Experts Break Down Key Insights During Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Why Should Patients With Breast Cancer Prioritize Wellness?

Reiki Therapy Evaluated to Ease Stress During Breast Cancer Surgery

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