Comprehensive Support for High-Risk Breast

& Ovarian Cancer Patients

Hoag’s Breast & Ovarian Cancer Prevention Program is a lifeline to women and their families who carry a pathogenic variant or genetic alteration — such as the BRCA gene — that places them at significantly increased risk for ovarian and breast cancer. Under the leadership of Co-Directors women enrolled in the program to date risk-reducing gynecologic surgeries

Lisa Abaid, MD, MPH, FACOG, FACS, a gynecologic oncologist, and Heather Macdonald, MD, FACOG, an OB-GYN and surgical breast oncologist and medical director of Hoag’s High Risk Breast Program, the program provides cancer prevention and early detection services. With only a few like it across the country, Hoag’s program offers each patient wellness care and mental and emotional support.

A major benefit of the program is its collaborative approach. Close coordination between the team’s providers allows Hoag to offer combined risk-reduction surgeries, including a combined hysterectomy and mastectomy with reconstruction in one scheduled surgery — an option most programs do not provide. Because risk-reducing surgery can impact many aspects of a woman’s life and future, the team provides support and guidance with connection to fertility preservation specialists, aesthetic and reconstructive surgeons, a social worker and nurse navigator, as well as a licensed psychologist and certified sex therapist.

When the COVID-19 pandemic turned life upside down, the Breast & Ovarian Cancer Prevention Program team launched a virtual support group led by the program’s social worker that continues to provide a sense of community and much-needed support.