Monica Valero, MD, is a surgical oncologist at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital who specializes in breast cancer treatment.
Dr. Valero says her interest in breast surgery began in medical school when she got a sense of the rapid advances being made in surgical options.
“There was this evolution in the types of surgical treatments that can minimize the extent of surgery or tailor the treatment to specific cancer subtypes, allowing women to have better outcomes and less invasive procedures,” she says.
Dr. Valero is director of the Hispanic Breast Cancer Program, an outreach initiative with the goal of helping to help minimize the gap in breast cancer care among Hispanic women.
“We want to understand the needs and challenges that the Hispanic population faces in terms of prevention and treatment for breast cancer,” Dr. Valero explains. “We provide holistic care that is accessible for all patients, and we are mindful of the cultural and social barriers in terms of breast cancer care exclusion.”
With all patients, Dr. Valero says she begins by giving them an overview of the latest data on outcomes and prognoses for breast cancer. “We know that the majority of patients present with a curable disease,” she says. “And even if we have a patient with a later-stage cancer that is not curable, there are still many treatment options available to her. I focus on the surgical options, but surgery is intertwined with the medical oncology and radiation oncology teams, too.”
Dr. Valero’s research interests are focused on breast conservation surgery and equity and inclusion in breast cancer treatment for underserved populations.
