Paul Lawrence Baron, MD

Description

Paul L. Baron, MD, FACS, is chief of breast surgery and director of the breast cancer program at Lenox Hill Hospital. He is an expert in the diagnosis and management of breast cancer, with a central focus on improving patients’ quality of life. He specializes in oncoplastic and oncological breast surgery and uses today’s state of the art technology to provide a higher caliber of care. Dr. Baron also has special expertise treating patients with a family history of breast cancer, or whose genetics pose a high risk for this disease. Dr. Baron serves on the board of directors for The American Society of Breast Surgeons and National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), which keeps him at the forefront of innovations in this field. Dr. Baron credits his patients with teaching him that battling breast cancer is more than just fighting a disease. As an oncoplastic surgeon, his goal is to cure the cancer and provide an excellent cosmetic result by hiding scars and restoring shape, so a patient can feel her best after a lumpectomy or mastectomy. Dr. Baron also uses the SOZO device, a tool that detects early lymphedema (arm swelling) following the removal of lymph nodes and is thereby able to prevent it from becoming symptomatic. Innovations like these all work to improve a patient's quality of life while they’re being treated for cancer, which is incredibly important to Dr. Baron’s practice. State-of-the-art surgical navigation technology like the Elucent EnVisio device enables Dr. Baron to localize and remove a cancer in the operating room during a lumpectomy and have a higher frequency of achieving clear margins. Lenox Hill Hospital is the first location in New York City to have access to this technology, so Dr. Baron is one of the few surgeons in the country trained to use it. Thanks to his adoption of these innovations, Dr. Baron has a low re-excision rate, meaning the margins of the lumpectomy are usually clear the first time, and the patient rarely needs to return to the operating room to remove more breast tissue. According to Dr. Baron, "there’s nothing more rewarding than the satisfaction of having a patient’s trust—especially when a patient is eager to refer you to a loved one.” He focuses on optimal care of the breast cancer patient, while simultaneously improving her quality of life.