Farber transfers breast cancer away from Brigham, to Beth Israel

Key Points:

• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is shifting its breast oncology services from Brigham and Women’s Hospital to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), with outpatient care at Dana-Farber and breast cancer surgeries at BIDMC starting next week.
• This move marks the beginning of Dana-Farber’s phased separation from its longstanding partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which will fully end in 2028.
• Dr. Elizabeth Mittendorf, formerly at Brigham, now leads BIDMC’s breast surgery division, collaborating closely with Dana-Farber and other specialists to provide tailored breast cancer treatments.
• Dana-Farber and Beth Israel plan to open a new $1.68 billion, 300-bed cancer hospital by 2031, while Mass General Brigham is investing $400 million to develop a competing cancer institute.
• Patients retain the choice to have surgeries at other institutions, and Dana-Farber continues to offer the largest portfolio of breast cancer clinical trials in New England, with BIDMC conducting surgical research on reconstruction and lymphedema.