Breast cancer is the most common and most feared disease by women everywhere. At the Meirav Breast Cancer Center at Sheba Medical Center, we treat approximately 4,000 patients every year, which is more than any other hospital in Israel. Our experienced team provides comprehensive, innovative, and compassionate medical care. We offer a full range of diagnostics and therapies in order to design an integrative, individualized treatment program for every woman with breast cancer. Additionally, Sheba researchers are actively exploring the development and treatment of breast cancer to engineer more progressive methods of early diagnosis and treatment. We participate in many national and international clinical trials.
The Meirav Breast Cancer Center is named after Meirav Shamir Feldschuh, who passed away from breast cancer at 28 years old. As Sheba’s doctors explain, “her death bequeathed us a mandate to save lives.”
The Department of Surgical Oncology
The Meirav Breast Cancer Center is part of the Department of Surgical Oncology in the Division of Surgery at the Acute Care Hospital. This department is recognized as a top-tier surgical oncology unit in Israel.
Other advanced services provided by the Department of Surgical Oncology include:
- Treatment of Incurable Cancer with Surgery and Heated Chemotherapy (HIPEC)
- Laboratory of Genomic Applications in Surgical Oncology
- The Surgical Oncology lab
Overview of Breast Cancer
Breasts are made of many different types of tissues, including fatty tissue, glands, ducts, lobes, lobules, and lymph nodes. Breast cancer occurs when cells in the breast mutate and grow uncontrollably, leading to the development of a tumor – expressed as a lump or mass. When left untreated, cancer cells may metastasize through the breast to lymph nodes or other organs, complicating treatment. In contrast, when breast cancer is diagnosed early and localized, the success of treatment is extraordinarily high.
About 80% of all breast cancer cases begin in the milk ducts (ductal carcinoma), and about 10% of cases originate in the glands or lobes that produce milk (lobular carcinoma). Each type of breast cancer may be classified according to where it originated in the breast, whether it is invasive or non-invasive, and whether it is fueled by proteins or hormones.
Breast cancer is often discovered initially by detecting a lump in the breast, which is why self-exams and breast cancer screening are critical for early detection. It’s important to note that not all lumps are cancerous; further diagnostic imaging and testing is required to confirm or rule out breast cancer.
What Treatments Do We Offer?
In recent years, breast cancer treatment has been revolutionized. As a multidisciplinary area of medicine, breast cancer therapy is no longer dominated by surgery. Surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, and pathologists collaborate to personalize the best treatment, with a goal to minimize the need for surgery.
The following treatments are offered at the Meirav Center:
- Sentinel node sampling: only one or a few lymph nodes are surgically removed from the node where cancer cells travel first. If no cancer is detected in this node, no additional surgery is required
- 3D MIRA: a non-invasive, high-tech, and comfortable method of optical imaging used for breast cancer screening
- Breast reconstruction: modern techniques, such as the micro-vascular tissue flap and the skin-sparing mastectomy, both of which result in a more natural appearance
- Surgical therapies: treatment and follow-up of tumors by expert surgeons
- FUS: an experimental therapy that uses ultrasound waves to heat and destroy the tumor, causing no harm to surrounding tissue
- Fertility preservation: provides solutions to women prior to surgery and oncological treatments
- BRCA testing: a blood test that uses DNA analysis to uncover mutations in susceptible breast cancer genes
- Hormone therapy
- Chemotherapy
- Radiotherapy
Watch this video to learn more about the Meirav Breast Cancer Center:
Meet Our Team
Dov Zippel, MD
Head of the Meirav Breast Center
Surgery Specialist, Ella Lemelbaum Institute for Immuno-Oncology
Dr. Zippel received his medical degree from Tel Aviv University. He specializes in melanoma and intraperitoneal chemotherapy.
Dov Zippel, MD
Bella Kaufman, MD
Head of the Breast Oncology Institute
Prof. Kaufman is a world leading breast cancer researcher and clinician who has been involved in breast cancer treatments for many years. She has supervised many clinical trials and is also a partner at many top breast cancer centers. Prof. Kaufman has published many articles and chapters in medical literature.
Bella Kaufman, MD
Miri Sklair-Levy, MD
Head of the Breast Imaging Center, Meirav Breast Center
Dr. Sklair-Levy specializes in diagnostic radiology and breast imaging, and her primary interests are in imaging-guided chest biopsies, mammography, US, and MRI. She is highly experienced in the removal of lumps using an RF intact needle and imaging implants. Dr. Sklair-Levy has published dozens of articles in medical literature.
Miri Sklair-Levy, MD
Mordechai (Motti) Gutman, MD
Director, Department of General Surgery B
Prof. Gutman specializes in general surgery and surgical oncology, with a particular focus in gastrointestinal and breast cancer, melanoma, and sarcoma. He is a world leader in the treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis (HIPEC). He received his medical degree from Tel Aviv University, and is currently a professor of surgery at the Sackler School of Medicine, TAU. Since 2013, Prof. Gutman has served as Chairman of the Israeli Surgical Association.
Mordechai (Motti) Gutman, MD
Rinat Bernstein-Molho, M.D.
Senior Specialist at Breast Cancer Unit, Oncology Institute
Dr. Bernstein-Molho works as a medical oncologist and clinical cancer geneticist at Sheba’s Breast Cancer Center, with a clinical and research specialty in hereditary cancers. She received her medical degree from the Israeli Institute of Technology Medical School in Haifa.
Rinat Bernstein-Molho, M.D.
Holistic Medicine – We Treat the Whole Person
The Meirav Breast Cancer Center is a unique facility that gives women all the care they need conveniently under one roof. We understand that the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of breast cancer can place a huge toll on every woman and her family, so we strive to create a very efficient and comfortable experience. To optimize and personalize each patient’s therapy and follow-up, our team of specialists meets for weekly planning discussions.
Our multidisciplinary approach ensures that every woman benefits from a range of supportive services, such as nutritional and genetic counseling, physical therapy, psychosocial programs, and associated endocrinological and gynecological care. We go way beyond just treating breast cancer, attending to every patient’s overall health and quality of life.
