At Providence, our top-ranked specialists perform a biopsy to determine if a patient has breast cancer. Typically, doctors use an MRI, ultrasound, or mammogram to guide a needle into the breast and remove a small amount of tissue to examine it for cancer. Doctors can also inject radioactive blue dye near the tumor to detect and remove cancer cells. If the biopsy results are unclear, doctors will recommend surgery to remove more tissue.

Our expert team of doctors use breast ultrasound images to detect, diagnose, or treat any abnormal lumps, cysts, or tumors in the breasts. The device uses ultrasonic sound waves to create images of breast tissue. The sound waves go through the skin to the breast tissues using a sensor that circles the breast. The sound waves then bounce back to the sensor and convert into an electronic picture. An ultrasound is completely painless and takes no more than 20 minutes.

Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy works by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells, which grow and divide quickly. The drugs can be administered orally, through intravenous lines, or in other ways. Chemotherapy can be used alone as a cancer treatment, or along with other treatments like radiation therapy and surgery. Each drug in a chemotherapy regimen is carefully selected to target the specific type and stage of the cancer being treated.

Endocrine therapy is a type of hormone therapy used in breast cancer treatment. The treatment is used to slow or stop the growth of hormone-sensitive tumors. Endocrine therapy works by blocking the body’s ability to produce hormones, or by interfering with the effects of hormones on breast cancer cells. This treatment can be performed through surgery to remove the ovaries which produce hormones; through radiation, which can stop the ovaries from producing hormones without surgery; or through drug therapy to counteract the effects of hormones on the growth of some types of cancers.

Breast cancer risk assessment is very important for identifying women who may benefit from more intensive breast cancer surveillance. Utilizing advanced conversational AI technology called a CARE chatbot, we screen every patient undergoing mammography.

We screen every patient undergoing a screening or diagnostic mammogram for breast cancer risk. A Tyrer-Cuzick (TC) lifetime risk of developing breast cancer score is calculated and updated annually. Women with calculated lifetime risk of 20% or higher are recommended to consider screening with annual breast MRI in addition to annual mammography, which can provide the highest sensitivity in detecting breast cancer.

We screen every patient undergoing a screening or diagnostic mammogram for inherited risk to identify individuals who meet criteria for cancer genetic risk assessment due to personal and family history of cancer. Patients who meet National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Genetic/Familial Risk criteria are given additional information and are contacted by our genetics program for appropriate follow up.

Genetic counseling and testing are available for all hereditary cancer syndromes and familial patterns of cancer. To deliver precision medicine, our genetic counselors combine genetic test results, personal factors, family history, and counseling to generate a personalized genetic risk assessment with estimates of future cancer risks for both individuals and family members. The process of genetic counseling creates risk estimates of increased accuracy as well as improved patient and physician understanding, which leads to individualized medical management, empowered cancer prevention, and appropriate risk reduction strategies.

We offer multiple service options to meet individual needs for genetic testing including:

• In-person appointments, telehealth appointments, mammography and walk-in clinics.
• Full-service genetic counseling for comprehensive pre-test and post-test engagement.
• Walk-in genetics clinics with rapid sample collection for convenient genetic testing that includes expert coordination and oversight by a licensed board-certified genetic counselor.
• Post-test genetic counseling for individuals who have had previous genetic testing and would like an updated or expert interpretation of their results, would like to consider having updated or additional testing, or would benefit from having a formal comprehensive risk assessment.

With our world-class radiation therapies, you can be confident that Providence will bring you the most effective cancer treatment. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is an advanced treatment that sends precise radiation beams to cancerous tumors in affected areas such as the breast, prostate, lung, brain, and many others. IMRT uses 3D imaging to mimic the tumor’s size, shape, and location. This treatment is applied over several short and pain-free sessions.

At Providence, our expert oncologists use leading-edge and effective treatments to minimize risks and maximize results. Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is a common treatment for many different types of cancers including breast, bladder, prostate, and many more. IORT is applied during surgery while cancerous tumors are being removed. Doctors use IORT to send a high dosage of radiation to directly to cancer cells to destroy them and shrink tumors. This is an alternative treatment to external radiation therapy.

At Providence, we’re focused on ensuring that you receive the best breast cancer treatment. A lumpectomy (partial mastectomy) is the surgical removal of a small section of cancerous breast tissue. The goal is to save as much breast tissue as possible. Lumpectomy is an effective option for patients with Stage 0, 1, or 2 breast cancers. The removed tissue is immediately examined to ensure it does not contain cancerous cells. Providence surgeons are experts in performing lumpectomies, with incisions that are often small enough to be hidden, and once healed, even difficult to see.

For patients diagnosed with breast cancer, Providence experts perform lymph node dissection to help assess the potential threat of cancer spreading beyond the breast tissue. This involves surgically removing groups of lymph nodes and examining them to determine if cancer is present. Your Providence cancer specialists are experts in lymph node dissection, and depending on what they find, they may recommend additional treatment.

Mammography is a vital tool for detecting breast cancer early. Some mammograms are performed using a digital X-ray, where a clear plate applies pressure on the breasts to obtain an even scan of the breast tissue. A more advanced type is a 3D mammography, which gives doctors a clearer, three-dimensional view of the breast—providing them a more accurate look at the tissue. It is highly recommended that starting at the age of 40, women should get annual mammograms.

Receiving a serious or chronic illness diagnosis can change your life dramatically and you may need additional support. Palliative care focuses on relieving pain and symptoms and prioritizing comfort and quality of life in any stage of your illness. Providence palliative care programs assist families with the comprehensive management of the patient’s physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs. Our palliative care team is available for long-term needs as well as for help in managing short-term side effects from treatment like chemotherapy. We provide counseling, planning assistance and help navigating the medical system.

Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that targets proteins that control how cancer cells grow, divide, and spread. Targeted therapy generally is administered through one of two methods:

• Small-molecule drugs, which are small enough to enter cells easily, can be used for targets that are inside cells.
• Monoclonal antibodies, which are proteins produced in the lab. These proteins are designed to attach to specific targets found on cancer cells. Some monoclonal antibodies mark cancer cells so that they will be better seen and destroyed by the immune system.

These types of therapies help to find, slow and destroy cancer cells in very targeted ways.

Thermal ablation, also known as cryoablation, radiofrequency and ablation, is used to treat difficult cancers. These include serious cases of breast, kidney, liver, prostate, thyroid, and pancreatic cancers. At Providence, we recommend using thermal ablation when surgery to remove a tumor is not feasible. During the procedure, a catheter or needle is inserted into the body and carefully guided to the specific area where cancer is located. Doctors most often use CT scanning or ultrasound imaging to guide these tools. The tips of these tools use either radiofrequency energy, liquid nitrogen, electric currents, or heat to destroy (ablate) the cancer cells within the tumor.