Choosing Breast Cancer Doctors and Specialists

If you want the best possible chance of winning your battle against breast cancer, you should assemble a team of specialists to manage your care. This should be done as soon as possible after diagnosis, so that all of the doctors involved can discuss your treatment options and determine the best strategy for you.

What is a specialist?
A specialist is a doctor who has completed his or her residency training in a specific area. Once training is complete, the doctor must pass the national board exam for their specialty in order to be considered a board-certified specialist. A doctor who has completed the training but has not passed the exam is called "board-eligible," but is not yet a specialist.

Sometimes, there is no board certification exam for a particular specialty. Breast cancer surgery is a good example of this. In this case, you would look for a specialist who is board-certified in a closely related area, such as general surgery. Also look for other indications of education and commitment to the specialty, such as fellowships and other addition training, plus years of experience.

A specialist can become a subspecialist by taking at least one year of additional, full-time training in a particular area. The doctor can be board-certified in this subspecialty also, if there is an exam available.

• Medical oncologist - specializes in the treatment of cancer. Understands how cancers behave and grow and the benefits and risks of various treatment options. This doctor will manage your overall care.


• Radiologist - interprets your X-rays and other images taken of your body


• Breast surgeon - specializes in removing tumors from the breast, may also perform biopsies


• Surgical oncologist - performs biopsies and other surgeries such as tumor removal or mastectomy


• Plastic surgeon - performs breast reconstruction


• Radiation oncologist - has been trained to use radiation therapy to treat cancer


• Radiation therapist - interprets X-ray studies and ensures you are in the correct treatment position during radiation therapy


• Radiation technologist - monitors radiation dosage to ensure that it is safe while being as effective as possible

Finding specialists
You can find specialists by talking to your primary care physician, local hospitals, medical societies, and medical schools. The American Board of Medical Specialties also publishes a directory of board-certified specialists which can be purchased, viewed on their website (abms.org), or may be available at your local library.