Tri-City Cancer Services
Breast Cancer
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Breast Cancer Treatment in San Diego
If you’re among the 12 percent of U.S. women who develop breast cancer, take comfort in knowing survival rates are increasing thanks to better treatment and earlier diagnosis. At Tri-City Medical Center in San Diego, you benefit from advanced technology that helps doctors detect the disease as early as possible. We diagnose women with breast cancer at stage 0 or stage 1 a higher percentage of the time than doctors do on average nationwide. We help you get tailored treatment early, when it’s most effective. Choose Tri-City Medical Center for expert, compassionate breast cancer services that let you make the most of your life.
Reduce Your Risk of Breast Cancer
Some risk factors for breast cancer, such as your genes, remain outside of your control. But you may be able to lower your risk of the disease by:
- Avoiding cigarette use
- Breastfeeding your children
- Choosing methods of birth control other than oral contraceptives
- Drinking no more than one serving of alcohol per day
- Limiting hormone replacement therapy
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Minimizing exposure to radiation and environmental pollution
- Staying physically active
If you are interested, please request a mammogram screening at our Women’s Diagnostic Center today.
Catch Breast Cancer Early
After a breast cancer screening reveals abnormalities, your physician may use stereotactic breast biopsy to determine whether the unusual tissue is benign or cancerous. During this minimally invasive, outpatient procedure, you’ll lie facedown on an elevated table with holes for your breasts. Using X-ray images as a guide, your doctor will then remove some cells from the abnormal tissue in your breast for examination. A local anesthetic will minimize pain, and no incision is necessary.
If cancer has developed, a sentinel lymph node biopsy will help doctors see if cancer cells have spread to your lymphatic system. Your physician will inject a mild radioactive material or a safe, special dye into your body to locate your sentinel lymph nodes, near the armpits, and then remove the nodes to check for cancer. If they show signs of the disease, you may need more nodes removed. Eliminating them treats your cancer and could help save your life, but may also lead to swelling known as lymphedema. That’s why you’ll find expert lymphedema care at Tri-City Medical Center in San Diego.
Intraoperative Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer
Tri-City Medical Center now offers intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT), the latest in early-stage breast cancer treatment. By combining surgery and radiation, this form of treatment administers a single dose of radiation therapy immediately after a lumpectomy, allowing for a lower health risk and quicker recovery time.
After getting a routine mammogram, Magi Pledger was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 47. Tri-City Medical Center helped guide this brave, determined woman through a challenging course of treatment. Today, she inspires other women living with breast cancer.