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Appointments
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Attending Surgeon
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Anne K. and Edwin C. Weiskopf Professor of Surgical Oncology
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Professor of Surgery
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Anne K. and Edwin C. Weiskopf Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology
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Associate Attending Surgeon
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Associate Professor of Surgery
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Medical Director For Clinical Research
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Simmons, Rache M.
 (212) 821-0853  (212) 821-0832
Dr. Rache M. Simmons is a nationally and internationally renowned breast cancer surgeon at the New York Presbyterian Hospital who is recognized for her innovations and contributions in the field of minimally invasive breast cancer surgery. Dr. Simmons is a graduate of Duke University and Duke University Medical School. After her surgical training she did a Breast Oncology Fellowship at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital where she then was invited to join the surgical faculty. She has been on the surgical faculty since that time and now holds a teaching position as the Weiskopf Associate Professor of Surgery and is the Medical Director of Clinical Research at the Weill Cornell Medical College.
Dr. Simmons is a prolific writer and speaker on her topics of research, which predominantly involve ways to treat breast cancer patients with less invasive and more cosmetically desirable techniques. See the Weill Cornell Physicians ad featuring Dr. Simmons.
Dr. Simmons is very interested exploring new ways to improve the cosmetic appearance of patients who need breast cancer surgery. Obviously the most important goal is to cure the breast cancer but how the patient looks after the surgical treatment has a significant impact on her ability to resume her normal life. Because of the concern to maintain optimal cosmetic results, Dr. Simmons has done extensive research in ways to provide minimally invasive and cosmetically advantageous surgery to her patients. She is a pioneer in the area of skin sparing mastectomy in which she has the largest published series in the New York Metropolitan Area. Dr. Simmons is well known as having invented the Skin and Areola Sparing Mastectomy Operation. The Areola Sparing Mastectomy allows removal of the cancerous breast and nipple and assessment of the lymph nodes by sentinel node biopsy through a small incision within the areola itself. So all of the skin of the breast and the areola are maintained. After immediate reconstruction of the patient's breast and nipple the appearance is very natural, such that in many patients it is difficult to tell she underwent any surgery at all. Dr. Simmons states that she always finds it a complement when her patient's other doctors have to ask during examination "which breast had the mastectomy?"
Dr. Simmons has also made significant contributions to the development of the sentinel lymph node biopsy technique. She was the first to use a blue dye called methylene blue that she found through research to be equally accurate and a safer alternative to the lymphazurine blue dye that had been used earlier. Because of her recommendations, the use of this safer blue dye has changed the practice of many surgeons around the country.
She is the first surgeon in the New York Metropolitan Area to evaluate the use of laser and freezing to destroy both benign breast tumors and breast cancers. Because of her research this technology has become an accepted option for the treatment of benign tumors called fibroadenomas. Her research on this type of ablative therapy as a treatment for breast cancer is being evaluated in a national multicenter trial. This is expected to create a new age for the treatment of breast cancers without surgery in the near future.
Because of her national and international respected reputation as a researcher, teacher and clinical breast cancer surgeon she was elected as the President of the American Society of Breast Surgeons in 1999. She is the author of numerous scientific articles and book chapters on the surgical treatment of breast cancer. Not only is she a popular scientific lecturer on surgical techniques nationally and internationally, she is also a consultant to many lay publications and does routine interviews with media such as CNN, CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, Fox News, and ABC Evening News. Her research has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, Ladies Home Journal. She was featured on the Opray Winfrey Show for her work in the field of breast cancer surgery.
For her clinical work she has been selected by the NY Post Best Cancer Doctors in 1998, and Castle Connolly Guide Top Doctors in the New York Metro Area 2000-2006, and Best Doctors in America 2005-2006.
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http://rms2002@med.cornell.edu
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Breast Diseases
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Breast Cancer
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Breast Biopsy
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Breast Surgery
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