Breast Health and Research Center

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Imagine a place where you can get your mammogram and know your results the same day, where follow-up tests are scheduled right away, and you typically receive the results within 24 hours.

HonorHealth's Breast Health and Research Center gives you all of this in a caring, comfortable setting. The center also has the diagnostic tools and interventional technologies that physicians need to diagnose and plan your next steps if you have breast cancer. From routine mammograms to advanced interventional procedures, you'll encounter breast healthcare that's equally comprehensive, comfortable and cutting edge at three Valley locations.

Less time waiting, worrying

For mammography, you'll be seen within one week of calling for an appointment. If you're already experiencing a problem, your mammography can take place within 72 hours.

You'll receive your diagnostic exam results at your appointment, and if a biopsy is needed, we'll perform the biopsy within 24 to 48 hours. Biopsy results are typically back in 24 hours. If you need surgery, you can schedule an appointment to see a breast cancer surgeon.

The center’s breast specialists focus solely on breast imaging, performing thousands of imaging procedures per year.

In addition, because these experts use the same set of diagnostic tools from one procedure to the next, they understand how these tools correspond with each other. For example, the specialists can see how ultrasound results correlate with a mammogram. This big-picture ability is significant when it comes to diagnosing rare forms of cancer.

If you need additional care, a patient navigator will guide you through the process by compiling medical records on your behalf, helping with physician appointments and communicating with referring physicians to coordinate the next steps in your treatment plan.

The right technology

At the Breast Health and Research Center, you'll find a full spectrum of breast-imaging capabilities:

Digital/3D mammography

Digital mammography is one of the leading tools for detecting breast cancer, providing clear, concise images that can be read within seconds. Results are shared within 24 hours, reducing your wait time.

Women screened for breast cancer at HonorHealth's Breast Health and Research Center benefit from 3D mammography with digital breast tomosynthesis. The highly sensitive imaging technology provides individual images of thin layers of breast tissue, producing much clearer images.

The clarity of 3D images has helped doctors find more cancers than with traditional 2D images alone. Tiny cancers invisible in traditional 2D digital mammography appear clearly in 3D images.

The enhanced technology raises radiologists' confidence in ruling out breast cancer, without having to call you back for more testing. Because the technology offers improved visual sensitivity, it raises the proportion of mammograms that correctly detect breast cancers.

The Breast Health and Research Center uses software called C-View. It provides high-quality medical imaging and increased cancer detection with less compression time and reduced radiation exposure.

The new, lower-dose 3D mammograms cost the same as conventional 2D mammography.

Note that not all insurance covers digital mammography. Check with your insurance company prior to seeking this service.

3D-guided breast biopsy

With 3D-guided breast biopsy, a radiologist will remove a small sample of breast tissue for analysis under a microscope. In many cases, biopsy is the only way to confirm whether a breast mass, module or calcification is malignant or benign.

Breast biopsy will answer the question: Do you need surgery to remove the mass? 3D-guided breast biopsy advantages include less radiation, faster targeting of the area, faster procedure time and the option to be seated during the biopsy.

This advanced, minimally invasive biopsy technique complements the 3D mammography system used for detecting and diagnosing breast cancer.

Other breast biopsy procedures

In all biopsy procedures, a doctor removes tissue from a breast lump using a hollow needle. The samples are sent to the lab for further examination.

The most common types of breast biopsy are:

  • Stereotactic biopsy: It uses 3D mammography to target and biopsy specific areas, such as calcifications, that may be only the size of three grains of salt. Calcifications are often not visible on ultrasound.
  • Ultrasound biopsy: MRI imaging is used as you lie face down on an MRI table. This allows the technologist to locate the specific area of the breast tissue that needs to be biopsied. The procedure is typically used for abnormalities seen on an MRI, but not felt by breast self-exam or clinical examination. These abnormalities cannot be seen with mammogram or ultrasound.
  • Needle aspiration: A needle aspiration may be used when you have a cyst, which can be large and uncomfortable. A needle draws out, or aspirates, the fluid so you'll be comfortable again. The fluid may be sent to a lab for further review. If cancer is suspected, a biopsy may be required.
  • MRI-guided biopsy: A needle aspiration biopsy, guided by an MRI, may be used when you have a cyst, which can be large and uncomfortable.

Breast MRI

HonorHealth's breast MRI system balances image quality, diagnostic accuracy and patient comfort.

Breast MRI:

  • Is used in special cases. It's not a routine procedure for breast cancer screening.
  • Is used to support the findings of a biopsy or workup.
  • Captures many cross-sectional images of the breast. A computer will compile these scans into 2-D and 3-D images.

A breast MRI can provide information when a mammogram can’t if you:

  • Have very dense breasts.
  • Are at a high genetic risk for breast cancer.
  • Have a family history of breast cancer.

If you're already diagnosed with breast cancer, breast MRI can help ensure that other areas of the breast are not cancerous. That information can help your doctors plan surgery appropriately.

The equipment makes MRI exams more comfortable. You lie face down, with breasts positioned against cushioned, comfortable, MRI coils that emit radiofrequencies. The system guides you in and out of the scanner feet-first. Because your head is not in the machine, you won't feel claustrophobic.

Breast ultrasound

Breast ultrasound uses sound waves to help evaluate areas of concern found in a mammogram. Ultrasound helps pinpoint where to perform needle biopsies as well.

While a mammogram might show a lump on a monitor, ultrasound will you’re your breast radiology specialists determine whether the lump is a solid mass or a fluid-filled, benign cyst.

Ultrasound is also helpful for finding some abnormalities not detected on mammography — especially in dense, fibrocystic breasts. These types of findings are comparatively few in number.

A doctor's order is necessary for a breast ultrasound.