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Article published Jul 5, 2009 Blount Comprehensive Breast Clinic opens
By Linda Braden Albert of The Daily Times Staff
A streamlined approach to breast health and treatment of diseases of the breast is now available in Blount County.
Dr. Barry Roseman, of Roseman and Budayr, and Dr. Matt McCarty, of Thompson Oncology Group, Thompson Cancer Survival Center, have created the Blount Comprehensive Breast Clinic, giving Blount County women the option of receiving treatment for breast cancer, other diseases of the breast, and breast pain close to home. The clinic is located on the fourth floor of the Blount Memorial Cancer Center on the Blount Memorial Hospital campus in Maryville.
"We're not building a building specifically for this purpose," explained Roseman. "It's more a matter of putting a lot of things together that are already here into a program. It makes it easier for women to have a single stop, a single place where they can get coordinated care, no matter what the problem is."
Three-fold purpose
The purpose of the clinic is three-fold: to insure that women are being appropriately screened for breast cancer and identify those at high risk for the disease; to evaluate women with a specific breast problem, such as a breast lump, abnormal mammogram or breast pain; and to provide a comprehensive treatment program with newly diagnosed breast cancer.
Roseman is board certified in general surgery and has fellowship training in surgical oncology. He specializes in treating breast diseases and breast cancer.
"There are a lot of breast diseases that are not cancer," Roseman said.
The clinic is a joint effort between Roseman and Budayr, P.C. and Thompson Oncology Group, which is part of Thompson Cancer Survival Center. Blount Memorial Hospital is making its resources available, as well.
"The reason it's that kind of partnership is because I, for several years, worked at the main Thompson Cancer Survival Center Clinic and helped create a comprehensive breast clinic there," Roseman said. "Now I'm here full-time and I'm trying to bring this same concept into Blount County."
Roseman said he is taking the knowledge he gained from his fellowship and from his work at Thompson Cancer Survival Center and bringing it to Blount Memorial Hospital so women won't feel they have to go to Knoxville to get this kind of service.
Feared disease
Dr. Matthew McCarty is a medical oncologist -- a cancer/chemotherapy doctor, he said -- with Thompson Cancer Survival Center, Thompson Oncology Group.
"What I bring to the table is to talk to women about, if they need it, chemotherapy, also other treatments we have such as hormonal therapy, immunotherapy, which is drugs that harness the immune system to help fight cancer. We also have, through Thompson, clinical trials which women can take part in, the latest and best treatment strategies for breast cancer. We also have a geneticist, who will screen women for a family tendency toward breast cancer, which is helpful both for them for their present treatment and also for their family members who may have a tendency toward breast cancer. We can bring those services right here to Blount County, so women don't have to go to Knoxville."
McCarty said lung cancer is the most common cancer death in women, but breast cancer is the most common cancer in women.
Roseman added, "This is probably the disease women are most afraid of. We know that screening and education and early diagnosis of breast cancer makes a large difference in the outcome of the disease. We want to make sure women are getting the appropriate screening and that any breast problems are addressed immediately."
He said a clinic nurse will coordinate appointments and tests and try to get as much done on the day women come to the clinic as possible. The nurse will also make sure there is good follow-up and communication about the tests.
"Right now, it's typically spread out between many different doctors' offices, and we're trying to provide a service where we can have it done all in one place."
'Breast-cancer navigator'
McCarty said, "Here in Blount County, the services are available for women in regard to breast cancer screening, detection, treatment, but they are somewhat splintered in that they are available on different sites. When women have a diagnosis of breast cancer, they are very fearful of that diagnosis, are uncertain of where to go and who to see, and there is significant time delays as they go from one office to the next office to the next office. When a woman has a breast problem, she wants it to be addressed rapidly and she wants it to be taken care of.
"I think if you can have a place where, if they feel a lump, something's wrong, they can come in and be checked quickly and then they can be steered to where they need to go and get things done quickly, and come to an answer. It's good for them both physically and emotionally. I think Barry's idea of starting this up here at Blount is a wonderful thing. You know, this hospital has wonderful services, a state-of-the-art breast center, pathologists that have expertise in breast cancer pathology, it has all the diagnostic tests, all the bells and whistles you need to treat a woman wonderfully for a possible diagnosis of breast cancer. But I think what it's lacked is a kind of a 'breast-cancer navigator,' a service where someone navigates a woman through all this technology that we have. His clinic will help toward that end tremendously."