Breast Health Services

Your Breast Health Center, Close to Home

Baptist Memorial Health Care takes a proactive and comprehensive approach to breast health services. With all cancers, early detection and treatment is your best line of defense; breast cancer is no exception. Baptist is at the forefront of comprehensive breast care, innovation and technology with imaging services throughout Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Our breast health specialists include surgeons, medical oncologists, radiologists, radiation oncologists, plastic surgeons and clinical cancer geneticists who work together to provide you with a personalized treatment plan.

Comprehensive Breast Program

The Comprehensive Breast Program starts at the Baptist Women's Health Center. This location not only offers screening, diagnostic and pre-surgical services, it also offers other services to include enhanced care for those who are at a greater risk for breast cancer or have benign breast conditions.

The Baptist Comprehensive Breast Program offers an efficient multidisciplinary approach to care with a coordinated physician network recommending treatment and care plans centered around the patient. The convenient satellite mammogram screening locations are available throughout the Mid-south and Baptist North Mississippi.

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Baptist Women's Health Center is accredited by the American College of Radiology as a Center of Excellence and also by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). 

Breast Health Conditions We Treat

In addition to breast cancer, Baptist Women’s Health Center delivers care for the following breast conditions:

• Breast pain
• Infection
• Cysts or lumps
• Fibroadenomas
• Masses
• Nipple changes or discharge

Breast Diagnostics and Cancer Screenings

Baptist offers quality breast cancer screenings and a comprehensive range of diagnostic and interventional services at our breast health centers. We use leading-edge technologies to accurately detect breast cancer early and devise treatment plans for breast cancer and other breast conditions.

Featured Technology

3D Mammography (Breast Digital Tomosynthesis)
Imagine being able to read every page of a closed book. That is how doctors describe 3D imaging. Images are digitally sliced, allowing doctors unobstructed views of the breast. Our GE Senoclair detector technology creates a higher quality image without increased radiation. This is especially important in screening patients with dense breasts.

3D mammography is available at the following locations:

• Baptist Women's Health Center (East Memphis Area)
• Baptist Memorial Hospital-Carroll County
• Baptist Memorial Hospital-Collierville
• Baptist Memorial Hospital- Crittenden
• Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto
• Baptist Memorial Hospital- Golden Triangle
• Baptist Memorial Hospital- Tipton
• Baptist Memorial Hospital- Union City
• Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union County
• Baptist Cancer Center-North Mississippi
• Mississippi Baptist Medical Center
• NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital

Genetic Assessment

The Comprehensive Breast Program includes a staff of dedicated genetic counselors who help identify patients who have a greater chance of developing breast and possible other cancers because of their personal and family history.

A blood or saliva sample can examine an individual’s DNA to determine if he/she has an inherited gene mutation that can increase the risk to develop cancers. Certain inherited gene mutations can sometimes increase a woman’s risk to develop breast cancer up to 85% during her lifetime.

If an individual is found to have an inherited gene mutation, there is discussion about how to screen that person more closely to detect cancer at an early stage and also for possible risk-reducing options to help lower the risk of developing certain cancers.

A risk assessment and genetic testing can help you develop a breast cancer screening and management plan with your doctor. Take this short quiz to learn more about factors that could possibly put you in the high-risk category.

Are you at risk for breast cancer?

There are many factors that can determine how much you are at risk for breast cancer. Take our Genetic Risk Factor Quiz to find out your risk.

Mammogram

What can I expect at my mammogram?

Screening mammograms (image) help detect tumors or calcium deposits that can't be felt. Some of these abnormalities can indicate the presence of breast cancer. Watch the video below to learn how to prepare for a mammogram at one of our comprehensive breast centers.

Why do I need further diagnostic testing?

Diagnostic mammograms are ordered when a new physical change in the breast is identified on your exam. This test is also ordered when a screening mammogram detects an abnormality in the breast. This test must be ordered by primary care providers. Learn what to expect when you arrive at our breast health center for further diagnostic testing by watching the video.

Breast Ultrasound

This diagnostic exam may be used to get a closer look at an abnormality on a mammogram. This test uses sound waves and does not expose the patient to radiation.

Automated Breast Ultrasound Technology

The Baptist Women’s Health Center is the first and only breast center in the Memphis area to offer access to the Invenia Automated Breast Ultrasound, or ABUS. Thanks to a Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation grant, this FDA-approved screening technology can better screen women with dense breast tissue.

Almost 40 percent of women have dense breasts, which means they have more glandular tissue than fat. Dense breasts are more likely to hide lumps or masses when screened with a standard mammogram. Additionally, women with dense breasts are four to six times more likely to develop breast cancer than women who do not have dense breasts.

The ABUS uses sonic waves to create a 3D photo of the breasts. This is much different from a screening mammogram, which uses radiation to look for abnormalities. While ABUS does not replace traditional mammography, it can be used in conjunction with it to better diagnose breast cancer in women with dense breasts. The exam takes just 30 minutes and gives doctors clear 3D images that they review in addition to the mammogram results.

If you have dense breasts, you can come into the Baptist Women’s Health Center for your standard mammogram and then speak with your doctor about which screening options are right for you. We recommend that women should receive a baseline mammogram beginning at age 40 and continue with annual screenings after that. If you are at a higher risk of breast cancer, speak with your doctor about when you should begin getting annual mammograms.

Breast MRI Scan

Your doctor may order a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for additional testing. An important breast health service, this test is also used for screening women who are at high risk for breast cancer. During this test, dye will be injected through an IV in your arm. The use of dye is to measure blood flow patterns in the breast. This exam uses magnetic energy and no radiation.

Breast Needle Biopsy

A small amount of breast tissue is removed using a needle and sent to the lab for review under a microscope to determine if the tissue is cancerous.

Treatments for Breast Cancer

Breast cancer treatment varies depending on the type and stage of the cancer, as well as the patient's medical history and overall health. Common breast cancer treatments include:

• Surgery
• Chemotherapy 
• Radiation therapy
• Hormone therapy
• Targeted therapy
• Immunotherapy

Following breast cancer treatment, women commonly undergo reconstructive surgery.

Preoperative Localization

To remove a small abnormality from the breast, a special device may be needed to mark the area of breast that will be removed during surgery. At the Women’s Health Center, we are the only center in the Mid-South that uses seed localization. This method of localization is more comfortable for the patient than standard wire localization.

Surgical Options

Most women who are diagnosed with breast cancer will require surgery as part of their treatment. If you and your surgeon decide on a lumpectomy or partial mastectomy, the surgeon will remove only the affected area of the breast—the breast cancer itself and some surrounding tissue. Depending on breast size, this surgery may also involve tissue rearrangement by a plastic surgeon for a good cosmetic result. Your surgeon may insert metal clips that will serve as markers for radiation treatments that you may receive following your surgery.

In a mastectomy, all the visible breast tissue is removed. There are different types of mastectomies; which one you receive will depend on your cancer’s type and stage. An element of comprehensive breast care, reconstruction by a plastic surgeon may be an option for you.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy, or chemo, is the use of chemical drugs to destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy keeps the cancer cells from growing, dividing and multiplying. Before or after breast cancer surgery, you may also receive chemotherapy or endocrine therapy (daily pills to block or lower hormones). This will be determined by the type and stage of your cancer as well as your overall health.

Find Breast Health Services Near You

Looking for comprehensive breast care close to home? Baptist is here to help. Discover an experienced, compassionate doctor who delivers breast health services at a Baptist Memorial Hospital location near you, whether you live in Memphis, DeSoto, Jackson or any of the surrounding communities in the Mid-South.

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