Center for Breast Care

The Advocate Christ Center for Breast Care Advantage
Breast cancer that is detected and treated in its early stages is nearly 100 percent curable. By bringing together services, expertise and personalized care in one convenient location, Advocate Center for Breast Care shortens the time between detection of a lump and diagnosis and treatment, offering women every hope for a complete recovery.

Digital Technology
Our Center for Breast Care provides the latest in technology with 3 digital mammography units, bone densitometry, 2 advanced ultrasound units and a stereotactic biopsy table.  These advanced technologies help us provide optimal imaging care.

Coordinated Services and Expert Care in a Single Setting
Nothing is more frightening for a woman than to find a lump in her breast or to hear that her mammogram is "abnormal." The time it may take to schedule follow-up tests and appointments can seem like a lifetime. Because we believe that even a weekend is too long to wait for answers, our Center makes the process easier. We coordinate continued testing with your physician in order to quickly get an answer for you.

Our Center for Breast Care combines medical expertise and services in one convenient setting. The center is open six days a week, including evenings, to perform screening mammography. We also expedite other services, such as clinical breast exams, follow-up tests and appointments with specialists, so that a woman facing the possibility of breast cancer gets a diagnosis and clear explanation of her options as quickly as possible and usually within 48 hours.

Our specially trained breast health nurse specialist not only coordinates and streamlines services, but also is regularly available to answer patients' questions. Consistent with our mission to help women with breast cancer achieve the highest level of wellbeing possible, we also provide important emotional, psychological and spiritual support for women and their families.

More than a Second Opinion
To ensure the best possible results for each woman, a team of skilled physician specialists works together to deliver comprehensive and coordinated care. The team includes experts in the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Patients benefit from the expertise of surgeons, oncologists, pathologists, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, geneticists, psychologists and others. Instead of just a second opinion, each woman has an entire team of physicians working on her behalf — without paying additional fees or scheduling more office visits.

The medical director, breast health nurse specialist and other team members meet with the patient to explain procedures and test results and answer questions throughout the experience. In addition, each woman receives a breast health manual in which she can keep written copies of test results. Our breast health nurse specialist continues to support the patient throughout all procedures and helps her access additional resources, including The Lactation Center. Located in Advocate Christ Medical Center, the resource center is staffed by registered nurses and patient care associates who help patients find valuable breast health information and products.

Advanced Diagnostic Capabilities
More women than ever survive breast cancer today, thanks to the focus on breast self-exams, screening mammography and improved treatment options. In many cases, an early diagnosis makes it possible for women to undergo less invasive procedures in an outpatient setting. When a lump is detected, the Center for Breast Care delivers an accurate diagnosis without a long wait.

Our specialists may recommend a diagnostic mammogram and/or a breast ultrasound, imaging tests that can reveal whether a lump is benign. The breast radiologist may recommend a biopsy, taking a sample of the abnormal tissue to test the cells. A woman can undergo the traditional open surgical biopsy, performed in a surgical suite and requiring an incision and sutures. Many women, however, are eligible for the newer, minimally invasive stereotactic (or percutaneous) biopsy that uses digital images to accurately biopsy early-stage breast cancer, including microcalcifications less than one millimeter in size (too small to feel, but visible on a mammogram or ultrasound). In this stereotactic biopsy, the radiologist gently suctions out tissue samples through a probe. For a core needle biopsy, the physician removes several minute tissue samples with a hair-thin needle. Both procedures are performed on an outpatient basis through a small slit that is closed with an adhesive bandage. Pathology results are often provided within 24 hours.

Since the breast is a complex structure of glands, ducts, fibrous tissue and fat, it can be difficult to locate a tumor during surgery. To assist the surgeon, the radiologist will often perform a breast needle localization. This is a diagnostic procedure that precisely targets the abnormal breast tissue for a biopsy, minimizing the removal of healthy tissue. While the breast is compressed in an x-ray machine, like a mammogram, the radiologist confirms the precise location of abnormal tissue and marks the area before surgery.

State-of-the-Art Treatment
The center's multidisciplinary team of doctors reviews each new case of breast cancer, then develops an individual care plan to deliver the very best treatment available.

That plan may involve one or more of the following:

Lumpectomy is the removal of only diseased tissue and a rim of normal tissue and is usually done with an axillary lymph node dissection, a test of lymph nodes in the armpit.

Mastectomy removes part or all of the breast, and when cancer has spread, the axillary lymph nodes.

Any of these procedures may be followed by radiation therapy (high-energy x-ray) or chemotherapy (anti-cancer drugs in the form of pills, injections, or intravenously) to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

Hormonal therapy may be recommended for postmenopausal women when cancer has spread beyond the breast.

A woman may also talk with our experienced plastic and reconstructive surgeons for breast implants and other surgery to restore her appearance after surgery.

Genetic Risk Counseling
Some women with breast cancer inherit a gene that predisposes them to the disease. Our Center for Breast Care patients may request an individual or family referral to Advocate Christ Medical Center's Cancer Genetics Program to learn more about their risk for hereditary breast cancer.

The counselor reviews personal and family history and assesses an individual's risk. If appropriate, the person may choose to give a blood sample for genetic testing and medical evaluation. This is done only after the individual understands the risks, benefits and limitations of genetic testing. Those with an inherited risk of breast cancer are referred to a specialist to plan for prevention and early detection. An individualized medical plan helps those patients regain a sense of control over the risk they face. For those women and families found not at risk, genetic counseling provides reassurance and peace of mind.

To Make an Appointment
The Advocate Center for Breast Care, located at 4545 W. 103rd St. in Oak Lawn, accepts appointments directly from patients or from referring physicians. Please call us at 708-684-1000.

Appointments are available:
Monday and Tuesday   7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Wednesday - Saturday 7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.