Breast Cancer Treatment Centers
Nationally Accredited Breast Center of Excellence
At Methodist Health System, we tackle breast cancer using a multidisciplinary team approach so each patient receives customized treatment based on their unique situation. We consider multiple factors when recommending specific breast cancer treatments, including the cancer stage, tumor biology, and the patient’s overall health.
The Breast Center at Methodist Health System specializes in the treatment of all types and stages of breast cancer, as well as high-risk breast diseases. Our multidisciplinary clinics allow patients to consult with most or all their treatment team during a single office visit. Your treatment team may include a variety of specialists, including nurse navigators, breast surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and others. We make sure your voice is heard when treatment planning and that all your specialists are in agreement about your customized plan to combat breast cancer.
How We Approach Breast Cancer Cases
Before starting treatment, our patients consult with a team of physicians from various specialties to ensure their treatment is supported by evidence-based guidelines. Nurse Navigators are another important part of the patient’s team, as they provide patients with education, guidance, and supportive care resources. These nurses ensure all appointments are scheduled in a timely manner, as well.
What Is Breast Cancer?
To understand breast cancer, it helps to know how the cells of the body work. When the body works as it should, the cells divide and reproduce only when new cells are needed. However, when abnormal cells begin to reproduce out of control and don’t function like the body’s normal cells, they are malignant, or cancerous. Breast cancer begins when the cells of the breasts mutate and begin to grow and divide uncontrollably and create a mass of tissue known as a tumor. Like other cancers, breast cancer will invade tissues surrounding the breast, and it can travel to other distant parts of the body and form new tumors.
Although some women can feel a lump in their breast prior to a breast cancer diagnosis, others have no symptoms and cannot feel anything unusual in their breasts. For this reason, mammograms are extremely important for women to have every year starting at age 40, as these imaging tests can detect cancer earlier, when the cancer is most treatable.
We Are a Renowned Breast Cancer Center
We are accredited as a Breast Center of Excellence by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). Receiving care at a NAPBC-accredited center ensures that patients will have access to:
- Variety of diagnostic tests, treatments, and surgical services
- Multidisciplinary team approach to care coordination
- Dedicated, fellowship-trained breast surgeons
- Cancer nurse navigator