Breast Health and Imaging Center Advantages

At UTMB, patients receive comprehensive and compassionate care in an environment that values and offers the expertise of multiple health disciplines. We have a beautiful new facility that's designed around healing, and the latest and best technology.

No detail in your care is unimportant; patients can expect follow up on everything, and treatment is very comprehensive.

Our people and the approaches they employ are what make truly us special. 

An individualized treatment plan is determined for each patient. At biweekly Multidisciplinary Breast Tumor Conferences, newly diagnosed breast cancer patient cases are evaluated and the best individualized treatment plan is determined for each patient. All of the physician specialists that are part of the diagnosis and treatment of patients participate actively. Radiologists, surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, and pathologists all are engaged in these patient-focused conferences.

NAPBC Accreditation

UTMB's Breast Health and Imaging Center has earned a three-year, full accreditation designation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. Accreditation by the NAPBC, a program administered by the American College of Surgeons, is given only to those centers that have voluntarily committed to provide the highest level of quality breast care and that undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance.

During the survey process, a center must demonstrate compliance with standards established by the NAPBC for treating women who are diagnosed with the full spectrum of breast disease.  The standards include proficiency in the areas of center leadership, clinical management, research, community outreach, professional education and quality improvement.  A breast center that achieves NAPBC accreditation has demonstrated a firm commitment to offer its patients every significant advantage in their battle against breast disease.

Receiving care at a NAPBC-accredited center ensures that you as a a patient will have access to:

• Comprehensive care, including a full range of state-of-the-art services
• A multidisciplinary team approach to coordinate the best treatment options
• Information about ongoing clinical trials and new treatment options

The NAPBC is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to the improvement of the quality of care and monitoring of outcomes of patients with diseases of the breast.  This mission is pursued through standard-setting, scientific validation and patient and professional education.  Its board membership includes professionals from 15 national organizations that reflect the full spectrum of breast care. For more information about the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, go to www.accreditedbreastcenters.org.

Radiology & Breast Imaging Services

The breast imaging program at UTMB has built a reputation for providing excellent and compassionate care to breast cancer patients throughout the region. The hard work and dedication of the breast imaging team has resulted in national recognition. The program has been designated a “Center of Excellence” by the American College of Radiology. UTMB was one of the initial two programs in the Houston area to receive this prestigious honor, and one of the first in Texas to receive the designation.

Like their center colleagues, the Breast Imaging team offers a collaborative approach to evaluating breast health and treating breast cancer patients. The program is:

• fully accredited in mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy and breast ultrasound;
• equipped with state-of-the-art imaging equipment for mammography, breast ultrasonography, breast MRI, and featuring the ability to perform image guided core needle biopsies using mammography, ultrasound, or MRI–whichever is needed to give the most accurate results and is easiest on the patient;
• staffed by expert faculty breast imaging physicians, and supported by excellent mammography technologists and quality assurance technologists with registries in their fields.
  

Medical and Surgical Services

At our UTMB Health center, we offer a number of specialized services and benefits for patients:

• Availability of four surgeons for breast surgery, three of which are specifically trained as surgical oncologists in breast cancer care.

• Our four surgeons provide the full spectrum of surgical options for the treatment of breast cancer including: breast conserving surgery (also known as lumpectomy or partial mastectomy) and complete mastectomy when indicated.

• All surgery for breast cancer includes evaluation of the lymph nodes in the axilla to determine if there has been any cancer spread to this area. Sentinel lymph node biopsy, a minimally invasive approach used to make this determination is the standard at UTMB.

• Close collaboration with on site plastic surgeons to offer concurrent patient consultations and immediate or delayed breast reconstruction.

• The UTMB Surgery Department offers the full spectrum of breast cancer care within the context of a multidisciplinary approach, only to be found in a large academic setting.

• Close collaboration with on site radiation oncologists.

• Partial breast radiation, a new technology which can be used in select patients, is offered. Using this technique high-dosage breast radiation is given over five days instead of six weeks. (Standard radiation therapy following breast cancer surgery is six weeks of daily external beam radiation.)

• The Breast Health and Imaging Center also offers "neo-adjuvant chemotherapy." Working in tandem with Medical Oncology, chemotherapy is administered to the patient prior to surgery when indicated. This option is often used to shrink large tumors–which would traditionally require mastectomy–to a smaller size more amenable to breast conserving surgery.