Our Doctors
Jonathan Herman, MD
New York, NY
Blogging is a new venture for me. However, it fits as the next step in a progression of steps. So I want to start by telling you a little of my story. I am an OB/GYN. I have a great private practice and have been practicing for the past 15 years. I deliver about 150 babies each year - singletons, twins, high-risk, low-risk pregnancies. I travel from my home to the office, the office to labor and delivery, and from labor and delivery home again in what ever order you want to put them in. I still do it today. I counsel my GYN patients about everything, periods, STDs, boys, birth control, menopause, sexuality and cancer (cervical, uterine, ovarian and breast)….. I like to think that I’m pretty good at what I do.
I guess I was like the next OB/GYN seeing patients and giving advice. That was true until a few years ago when everything changed. About 3 ½ years ago I delivered a baby boy and eight days later I attended his circumcision. After the lox and bagels were served, the baby’s grandmother approached me. She asked if I was taking on new patients and whether she could come to my office, as she had been tested for a BRCA gene mutation.
(A gene is a basic segment of DNA that controls hereditary characteristics such as hair color, eye color, and height, as well as susceptibility to certain diseases. A gene mutation is a change or alteration in a gene so that it does not function in the proper manner. A functioning BRCA gene helps the body prevent cancer. A BRCA gene mutation [named improperly BR for breast and CA for cancer] makes it more likely that a person will develop cancer. The “broken” gene promotes not only breast cancer but also ovarian cancer; they are linked. In medicine, Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome, HBOC, is the term used when a BRCA mutation is found.)
The grandmother of this baby already knew a diagnosis of either breast or ovarian cancer or both was likely at some point. She wanted to know if I would take care of her. She needed to know what I could do to help. In my office, we sat together and set up a plan to reduce her risks. Her plan included intensive breast surveillance (all imaging and clinical scans were normal) and the removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Within a couple of weeks, we proceeded with her surgery, which was done laparoscopically, in a 45-minute, minimally invasive manner. Three days later Dr. Anderson, her pathologist, called to say that in her opinion the patient’s life was saved, as cancer had invaded one ovary but was still confined to it. Ovarian cancer is rarely found early. Because of the BRCA blood test this time it was. This patient’s case shook me a bit.
I still love to deliver babies, but with this “tipping point” event, my career took on a new direction. First, I began to review the literature, including hundreds of citations. I thought about my family, friends, acquaintances, patients, and office staff who could potentially be a part of an HBOC family. Next, I began to identify those that should be tested and I began to test. I gave one lecture on the topic and then another. Now, I’ve spoken over 300 times across the United States. I’ve met with hundreds of physicians and thousands of patients.
style=”margin: 0in 0in 0pt;”>In this blog, I hope to give over some of the thoughts and ideas that I have learned from my experiences. You don’t need me to read the book to you. That’s not what this is about. It’s about different views, different angles as well as medical knowledge.
What is this blog about? It’s about what I can do and you can do to prevent breast cancer and if it has to happen to find it so early that treatment will be successful. It’s about helping yourself, your friends and your family. Prevention and early detection saves lives.
Jonathan Herman
Patricia E. Korber, M.D.
Dr. Korber graduated in 1984 from the University of Illinois Medical School and completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan and Harbor-UCLA. She is board certified and is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is on the Board of Directors for Hoag Hospital 552 Club for fund-raising and the Board of Directors for Greater Newport Physicians. She has been in practice in Orange County since 1988.
