Helping You Make Informed Decisions
The Rochester Regional Health Breast Center offers the full range of breast cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment options, offered by some of the region's most respected experts in breast cancer care.
If you have a breast cancer diagnosis, our team will take the time to explain your diagnosis and the treatment options available to you, so you can make informed decisions with your medical team.
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Breast Cancer Diagnosis
When it comes to breast cancer, every patient needs and deserves answers as quickly as possible. Rochester Regional Health's experts in genetic counseling, pathology, cytology, and diagnostic imaging aim for same-day test results whenever possible, because the quicker we have answers, the faster we can plan for treatment.
Our Breast Center provides access to some of the latest technologies in genetic counseling and testing, imaging, and minimally invasive diagnostic testing, including:
Our High-Risk Breast Cancer Screening Clinic provides breast cancer risk assessments, personalized breast cancer screening recommendations, and prevention strategies to individuals at increased risk of having breast cancer.
High risk breast cancer screening is offered to women with:
- Multiple affected members on the same side of her family
- A family or personal history of breast cancer diagnosed before age 50
- Pre-menopausal breast cancer
- A personal history of 2 breast cancer, either in the same breast or in opposite breasts
- Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish descent with breast or ovarian cancer at any age
- A family history of breast and ovarian cancer
- A family history of male breast cancer
- A family history of BRCA1 or 2 mutation
- History of Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia or Ductal Carcinoma in Situ
Women who are at high risk for breast cancer are evaluated by our team and referred for genetic counseling and assessment as necessary.
Used in addition (not as a replacement) to a mammogram, a breast MRI captures about 1,000 images of the breast, which are combined using a computer, to generate detailed cross-sectional images of the breast.
A breast MRI is typically used to determine the risk or extent of a breast cancer diagnosis. Typically, a contrast (special dye) is injected to help create clearer images that highlight abnormalities more easily.
Rochester Regional Health is the only provider in the Rochester region to offer 3D Automated Breast Ultrasound (ABUS). Used in addition to a mammogram, ABUS is an innovative breast cancer screening exam for women with dense breast tissue.
This state-of-the-art automated ultrasound technology uses high-frequency sound waves instead of x-ray to analyze breast tissue, allowing our radiologists to detect abnormalities that were not initially detected on a mammogram, and differentiate between a solid mass (tumor) and a liquid mass (cyst).
A recent advancement in breast imaging, computer-aided detection (CAD) assists our radiologists in investigating a mammogram to find the smallest breast tissue irregularities.
This highly sensitive software highlights areas that warrant closer examination and dramatically increases our physicians’ ability to identify subtle abnormalities and more importantly, potential breast cancers in earlier stages.
Rochester Regional Health uses computer-aided detection for every mammogram we perform.
Mammography uses a low-dose x-ray system to see inside breast tissue. A mammogram is used to detect and evaluate changes in breast tissue that could be indicators of conditions such as breast cancer. With digital mammography, x-ray film is replaced by technology that converts x-rays into digital images. Those images are then transferred to a computer for review by a radiologist.
Once a biopsy is completed, tissue samples are examined by pathologists who specialize exclusively in breast cancer. Pathologists' findings are critical to determining the best treatment for your cancer. At the Rochester Regional Health Breast Center, pathologists are key members of your medical team, providing consultation to clinicians and, at times, working side-by-side with surgeons. Our pathologists not only evaluate tissues to characterize your cancer, but they also investigate any unusual or unexpected findings in the breast tissue.
Stages of Breast Cancer
Stages of breast cancer are used to describe how extensive the breast cancer is, including the size of the tumor, the location, and whether it has spread to lymph nodes or other parts of the body. This information helps our doctors determine the best course for personalized treatment.
Stage 0 ? Carcinoma in Situ: Abnormal cells are present but have not spread to surrounding tissue. This stage is considered non-invasive or pre-cancerous.
Stage I ? Early stage: Cancer cells have begun to spread to a small portion of surrounding tissue, but not outside of the breast.
Stage II ? Localized: Cancer cells have spread beyond the original location, but are contained to surrounding breast tissue or lymph nodes.
Stage III ? Regional Spread: Cancer cells have extended beyond the immediate region of the tumor and may have invaded nearby lymph nodes and muscles.
Stage IV ? Metastatic Breast Cancer: Cancer cells have spread to other areas of the body, such as the brain, bones, lungs, or liver.
Breast cancer is also classified according to other characteristics. These include how sensitive the cancer is to estrogen and progesterone as well as to the level of certain proteins that play a role in breast cancer growth, such as HER2. It is also classified by the cancer?s genetic makeup.
Breast Cancer Treatment
Rochester Regional Health’s Breast Center partners with the cancer experts at Lipson Cancer Institute, putting patient care at the heart of our mission and the forefront of breast cancer treatments and research. Breast cancer care plans are individualized to your unique health history, lifestyle, goals, and cancer type, but may include:
- Medical therapy
- Hormone therapy
- Radiation therapy
- Surgery
- Lumpectomy - Our surgeons may recommend a lumpectomy for early-stage breast cancer or as a preventative measure. This procedure involves removing abnormal tissue and a small area of surrounding healthy tissue. The tissue is analyzed by a specialized breast cancer pathologist.
- Mastectomy - Patients with advanced cancer or a high risk of breast cancer may require or choose to have a mastectomy. During this surgery, we remove all the tissue from one or both breasts. Our surgeons perform mastectomies both with and without breast reconstruction. Whenever possible, we conserve the skin, areola, and nipple (nipple sparing mastectomy) to assist with reconstruction.
- Hidden Scar Surgery - an advanced approach in which surgeons remove cancerous tissue through a single incision, minimizing visible scarring and preserving the shape and appearance of both the breast and the nipple.
- Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (IORT) - an innovative surgical approach of providing radiation therapy during breast cancer surgery, in which a single session of low-energy, high-dose targeted radiation is administered directly into the tumor site at the time of lumpectomy.
- SAVI SCOUT - a surgical guidance system that uses electromagnetic waves and a reflector system to localize the tumor without the need for wires. This allows for better precision during surgery and better surgical planning that may reduce the amount of tissue that needs to be removed.
If breast reconstruction is required to restore the appearance of your breasts after a lumpectomy or mastectomy, our breast surgeons will work together with our highly experienced plastic surgeons.
- Participating in a clinical trial may also be a treatment option available to you.
