Mammogram procedures

Expert Breast Care at Providence Saint John’s Margie Petersen Breast Center

With an emphasis on patient dignity and comfort, the Margie Petersen Breast Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center offers some of the finest breast care in Southern California. We want to change the way women look at breast health and can identify and treat breast issues from pain and discharge to cancer. In fact, we have a dedicated Breast Health Center designed to function like a breast urgent care. Should a person find a lump or change in their breast, this program allows the patient to come in within 24 hours for an evaluation.

Call 833-923-3553 for an appointment or request one online.

2285.1 miles away
310-582-7100

Expert Breast Care at Providence Saint John’s Margie Petersen Breast Center

With an emphasis on patient dignity and comfort, the Margie Petersen Breast Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center offers some of the finest breast care in Southern California. We want to change the way women look at breast health and can identify and treat breast issues from pain and discharge to cancer. In fact, we have a dedicated Breast Health Center designed to function like a breast urgent care. Should a person find a lump or change in their breast, this program allows the patient to come in within 24 hours for an evaluation.

Call 833-923-3553 for an appointment or request one online.

2285.1 miles away

Meet the Team

At Providence, you'll have access to a vast network of dedicated and compassionate providers who offer personalized care by focusing on treatment, prevention and health education.

Personalized care

For those diagnosed with breast cancer, we focus on caring for the whole person: mind, body and spirit and provide access to medical expertise, innovative treatments, and support services. Our doctors and nurse navigator make sure to provide each patient, and their families, a comprehensive and personalized path to the most effective treatment. This includes combining quality care with integrated practices such as mindfulness and yoga. From the moment you walk through our doors, you can expect to find compassion and a tranquil environment.

What you can expect from the Margie Petersen Breast Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center
  • The same comprehensive, cutting edge services offered by major academic centers, provided in the community hospitals you know and trust
  • A team of specialists in every aspect of breast care who collaborate across multiple locations to provide convenient, connected care close to your home or work
  • World-class treatment options, including the latest clinical trials 
  • Personal support, beyond treating the disease, that eases the ripple effects on your emotions and your life

Providence provides expertise in treating all types of breast cancer, including rare forms.

  • Ductal cancers start in the ducts that carry milk to the nipple.
  • Lobular cancers start in the glands, or “lobules,” that produce milk.
  • In situ indicates abnormal or cancerous cells that have not spread beyond the duct or gland.
  • Infiltrating or invasive cancers have spread into surrounding breast tissue.
  • Metastatic cancers have spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes to other parts of the body.

The cancers we treat include, but are not limited to:

  • Infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC): This is the most common type, making up 70-80% of all breast cancers. It begins in the lining of the milk ducts and then grows through the ducts into the nearby breast tissue. If not treated, it can spread, or metastasize, to other parts of the body.
  • Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): This is a non- or pre-invasive cancer that is still confined to the milk ducts, but that may become invasive.
  • Infiltrating lobular carcinoma (ILC): Another common form of breast cancer, this type begins in the lining of the milk-producing glands and grows into the breast tissue. Without treatment, it can spread outside of the breast.
  • Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS): These abnormal cells, confined to the milk glands, are not technically considered cancer and don’t typically become invasive. However, they do increase the risk of developing cancer in either breast in the future.
  • Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC): In this rare and very aggressive disease, cancer cells block the lymph vessels of the breast skin, causing inflammation, swelling, redness and thickening of the skin. This fast-spreading cancer can metastasize without quick treatment. About 1-5% of breast cancers are inflammatory.
  • Metastatic breast cancer (MBC): While breast cancers that have spread to other parts of the body can’t be cured, there are many treatments that can help keep them under control for years.

Your personalized treatment plan will depend on factors that are unique to you, from your specific diagnosis to your personal health and preferences. But one thing that most patients can count on is that it will take a team. And that’s where the Margie Petersen Breast Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center shines. 

Your team may include multiple experts who specialize in very specific aspects of treatment, as well as nurses, dietitians, counselors and others, all collaborating on your care. Collaboration is key, and we do it well. One way is through regular case review meetings, where members of your team, as well as Providence experts from outside your team, gather to review patient cases and to share clinical opinions, recommend treatments or symptom-management strategies, suggest opportunities for clinical trials and optimize care coordination.

The earlier breast cancer is found, the better the chances of successful treatment. That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to any changes in your breasts that could be signs of breast cancer. Understanding what is normal for your breasts, and what isn’t, can be lifesaving.

Symptoms to pay attention to

In the very earliest stages, breast cancer has no outward symptoms. Sometimes the earliest sign is a tiny lump, or mass, that’s detectable only on a mammogram. As the disease progresses, however, more noticeable changes might appear. These can vary widely — while a lump is the most common symptom, it is by no means the only one. Any of the following changes could be a warning sign of breast cancer:

  • A lump in the breast or armpit area
  • Thickening or redness of the breast skin
  • Swelling in all or part of the breast
  • Dimpling, puckering, irritation or scaliness of the breast skin or nipple
  • Pain or tenderness in the breast or nipple
  • A nipple that turns inward, flattens out, pulls to one side or changes direction
  • Bloody nipple discharge or unilateral discharge other than breast milk

These symptoms may be signs of breast cancer in men as well as women.

What to do if you have symptoms

If you notice a potential symptom of breast cancer, or if you’re concerned about any changes in the way one of your breasts looks or feels, please call your primary care provider or breast care specialist. While these symptoms don’t always indicate cancer — sometimes they are signs of something less serious, such as a cyst or an infection — it’s important to have a physician evaluate them right away. Don’t wait to see if they go away on their own. It bears repeating: treating breast cancer successfully is much easier when it’s caught and treated early.

The latest research

Thanks to our dedication to advancing health for our breast cancer patients, the breast center offers the most recent medical developments and clinical trials. Clinical trials help doctors and scientists find better ways to diagnose, treat and prevent disease. Individuals who volunteer for clinical trials play an active role in their own health care and help others by advancing medicine.

Many of the physicians and surgeons who are treating and caring for patients in the Margie Petersen Breast Center at Providence Saint John’s are also faculty, adjunct faculty and physicians in a fellowship program affiliated with the Saint John's Cancer Institute. The Saint John's Cancer Institute is a cancer research organization dedicated to the understanding and curing of cancer in order to eliminate patient suffering worldwide.

View some of the current breast oncology research efforts at the Saint John's Cancer Institute.

Learn More About Research at Saint John's Cancer Institute

Why Choose Us for Breast Cancer Care?

At Providence, we see the life in you. We know how important family celebrations and special occasions can be. Together let’s finish cancer so you don’t have to miss any of these moments.

No two patients, or their treatment plans, are alike. This is why, at Providence, we take a highly personalized approach to your breast cancer care. You’ll experience this in our multidisciplinary tumor boards, where your oncology team collaborates with other cancer care experts about your specific diagnosis. We also offer a Providence Molecular Tumor Board, where we evaluate your genomic and clinical information to find the best genetically matched treatment for you. Your oncology team will work with you directly to design a treatment plan that fits your personal needs. It’s an approach that combines leading-edge treatment with the compassionate care Providence is known for. Why? Because we know this results in the best outcomes.

As a patient, you’ll be supported through your entire cancer journey by our expert care team of breast cancer specialists. You’ll be treated by board-certified medical oncologists and radiologists. If surgery is required, our world-class breast and plastic surgeons use the most advanced techniques, such as breast-sparing and reconstructive surgery. It’s a team-based approach to breast cancer. Your cancer care team may include oncology nurse navigators, physical therapists and other cancer specialists. We also provide you and your family with a full range of support services well beyond conventional treatment – from prevention and education to nutrition and pain management.

Learn more about the experts who make up our multidisciplinary cancer care teams.

Breast cancer doesn’t discriminate, but access to great breast cancer care hasn’t always been the same for everyone. At Providence, we are deeply committed to making sure every patient we treat has access to the best cancer care. We value, respect and support the racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual and spiritual identities of each member of our diverse communities,  and we welcome all patients, regardless of their ability to pay. Instead, we work harder to make sure every patient is treated equally and with dignity – whoever you are, and wherever you're at. As part of that mission, we offer various location-specific services to help our patients receive equitable care, such as translation for non-English speaking patients, telehealth and transportation assistance.

As a patient at Providence, you have access to the largest community-based cancer network in the United States. Being part of a collaborative network means that your local breast cancer care team shares knowledge and experience with other world-class clinicians across 51 hospitals in seven states. The extent and power of our network is one of the reasons 10,000 breast cancer patients and 50,000 cancer patients choose Providence each year.

Providence is well-known for offering options – and hope – to patients seeking the most advanced procedures and therapies for breast cancer. For instance, research teams within the Providence network have developed a one-of-a-kind breast cancer database containing details on thousands of breast cancer cases. The valuable information in this database is contributing to groundbreaking research into the evolution of breast cancer that may transform breast cancer prevention, detection and treatment. As a patient, you have the opportunity to participate in or benefit from one of over 120 clinical trials happening across the Providence network for breast cancer treatment.

The Power of Our Network

Part of the Providence Cancer Institute in Los Angeles

Our patients are the center of everything we do:

  • Our unique patient navigator program offers navigators specific to each cancer type to assist you throughout your cancer journey.
  • Our beautiful, modern hospitals are equipped with the latest technologies.
  • We also offer robust research labs not found in local, community-focused hospitals.

Learn more about the Providence Cancer Institute in Los Angeles

Doctor sitting with patient
Senior woman looking hopeful as she gazes out window

Find Clinical Trials

Are you looking for a clinical trial for yourself or for a patient? We’d love to help you find one!