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Breast Surgery

In partnership with Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, the Division of Breast Surgery embraces a multidisciplinary approach to breast disease and breast care in an academic and community setting that is warm, inviting and comfortable to patients with all breast concerns.

Modern management of breast disease requires an in-depth knowledge of not only surgery, but also breast imaging, image-directed biopsy techniques, pathology, radiation oncology, medical oncology and oncologic reconstructive surgery. The educational programs to which we contribute emphasize this multidisciplinary nature of modern breast care and the need for incorporating patient education and decision-making into the treatment paradigm.”

Nora Hansen, MD, Chief

What We Do

 Alumni

Residents and medical students rotate through the Division of Breast Surgery as part of their surgical education. Through a partnership with the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, the Division of Breast Surgery offers a multidisciplinary one-year, Society of Surgical Oncology–accredited fellowship program. The breast fellowship will enable the resident to acquire advanced knowledge and skill in the management of breast disease, preparing them to assume a leadership role in teaching and research in the field.

 Research

Seema A. Khan, MD, leads the Northwestern Cancer Prevention Consortium, one of five NCI-funded consortia, structured for the conduct of early-phase, biomarker-based trials of cancer preventions agents.  She has also secured another competitive renewal of "Preclinical and Clinical Studies of Breast Cancer Prevention with Transdermal Anti-Progesterone Agents with BCRF." She continues to investigate the novel concept of transdermal delivery of breast cancer drugs through the breast skin, which she has pioneered. In addition to her ongoing, DCP-funded clinical trial testing 4-hysroxytamoxifen gel in women with DCIS, she was recently awarded an R01 grant to define skin characteristics that aid or hinder transdermal delivery and to evaluate the impact of breast radiotherapy on dermal permeation.

Swati Kulkarni, MD, continues to recruit patients to her R01-funded multi-center trial entitled "Evaluating the protective effect of a tissue selective estrogen complex (TSEC) in women with newly diagnosed ductal carcinoma in situ." The study, known as the Promise Study (short for Preventing Menopausal Symptoms and Invasion) is currently open at sites around the country. She is also working closely with a small biotech company to develop an intraoperative imaging device that has the potential to reduce positive margins after breast surgery.

 Patient Care

The Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Center at Prentice Women's Hospital is a state-of-the-art facility offering patients the advantage of having all of their surgical care in the same building. The surgical staff includes four fellowship-trained breast surgeons, two PGY-6 Breast Fellows, four breast nurse clinicians and four advanced practice providers. Patients also have access to a nurse navigator, genetics, oncofertility and supportive oncology. Our program offers leading-edge care for patients with breast cancer, benign breast disease, as well as breast cancer risk assessment and specialized care plans for women at high risk for breast cancer.

Meet Our Team

Kulkarni, Swati

Professor of Surgery (Breast Surgery)

"My goal is to help patients understand the different options available so they can choose the option that is best for them."
Bethke, Kevin P

Professor of Surgery (Breast Surgery)

My clinical, research and teaching interests center around the treatment of breast diseases and more specifically breast cancer.
View all faculty

Contact Us

academic

Taylor McBride
Division Administrator
Phone:  312-926-1183
taylor.mcbride@nm.org

250 E. Superior St.
Chicago IL 60611 (Map it)

clinical

Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Center
Phone:  312-695-0990

250 E. Superior St.
Suite 4-420
Chicago IL 60611 (Map it)

Support What We Do

We invite your philanthropic partnership in helping us achieve our research and teaching missions each day.

You can contact Nicole Langert for more information on supporting our division at 312-503-1656 or nicole.langert@northwestern.edu.

Make an online donation

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