Saar
A. Porrath MD was a medical pioneer and breast oncologist who
dedicated his practice to providing cutting-edge breast health
care and fostering patient communication and advocacy: seeing
patient and physician as a partnership.
An
internationally renowned breast oncologist, radiation
therapist, consultant, author and speaker, the late Saar A.
Porrath MD was a visionary in the medical diagnosis and
treatment of women's health, especially breast disease. He
pioneered the development of non-invasive needle biopsies for
the breast and other organs. Dr. Porrath opened the first
breast diagnostic center in Los Angeles in 1975. In 1983, he
created the Woman's Breast Center, a stand alone multimodality
diagnostic breast center that became a medical blueprint and
an effective business model for the industry.
During
his career, Dr. Porrath served as President of the American
Society of Breast Disease, The National Consortium of Breast
Centers, Vice-President and Treasurer of the International
Society of Senology (Breast) and member of the Alternative
Medicine Committee of the American Cancer Society. Dr. Porrath
was honored by Los Angeles County and by the cities of Los
Angeles and Santa Monica, among others, for his contributions
to health care, especially for his groundbreaking work in the
advancement of breast disease diagnosis and treatment. A
summary of his work can be found in his book, The
Multimodality Approach to Breast Imaging.
Dr.
Porrath consulted with healthcare policymakers, including
Congresswoman Jane Harmon, and California Assembly members
Barbara Friedman and Jackie Goldberg, to integrate his ideas
into legislation to benefit the public. He was successful in
helping to secure congressional approval of mammograms for
women under 50 and, in California, using cigarette tax money
for breast cancer research.
Dr. Porrath's interest in
patient/physician partnerships took on new meaning during his
two-year battle with plasma cell leukemia. He more fully
realized the necessity for trained cancer patient advocates to
help cancer patients and caregivers better navigate the
challenges of cancer. He subsequently developed his patient
centered Personal
Cancer Management System (PCMS). In 1999, he and his
wife, Toni
Bernay PhD, founded the Porrath Foundation for Cancer
Patient Advocacy to put his plan into action. Dr. Porrath
consulted and spoke nationally and internationally on the PCMS
to audiences ranging from health professionals such as The
American Psychological Association, Jefferson and Cedars-Sinai
Hospitals in Philadelphia and Los Angeles; patient and public
interest groups including National Cancer Survivors Day and
the International Myeloma Foundation; corporate groups
including E-Z-EM Corporation, medical equipment manufacturers,
Ortho-Biotech Pharmaceuticals and health systems in emerging
economies around the world including Brazil and
Bulgaria.
Saar Porrath also used his expertise and
cancer experience to refine the Personal Cancer Management
System. He incorporated it into a book to help others organize
and deal with the avalanche of information, options and the
painful and overwhelming experience of having cancer. The
book, When
It's Cancer---10 Essential Steps to Take Following the
Diagnosis will be published in September, 2005 by
Rodale Press. It reveals how Drs Porrath and Bernay used their
insights, discoveries and the tools of the PCMS to fight
cancer, using this struggle to bring to life the Porrath
Foundation for Cancer Patient Advocacy for the benefit of
cancer patients and their families.
Born January
3, 1937, Dr. Porrath received his MD from State University of
New York, Buffalo, and his BA from Niagara University.
