Breast Clinic

Patient-centered care

Compassionate care helps people at high risk of breast cancer decide what treatment options are best for them.

If you are at high risk of developing breast cancer, specialists at the High Risk Breast Clinic at Mayo Clinic listen to your concerns and help you weigh your options and develop a plan. The High Risk Breast Clinic is at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona; Jacksonville, Florida; and Rochester, Minnesota.

The High Risk Breast Clinic is for people with an increased risk of breast cancer due to familial or breast biopsy-based risk factors. Our caring team of experts is made up of specialists in breast health and screening, internal medicine, breast imaging, genetics, oncology, surgery and other areas as needed.

Your team works with you to develop a personalized risk management plan. Your plan may include more screening, breast cancer chemoprevention and preventive surgeries. Examples of this type of surgery are removing all breast tissue before it has cancer, called prophylactic mastectomy, and removing ovaries before they have cancer, called prophylactic oophorectomy.

The benefits to receiving your care in the High Risk Breast Clinic include:

• Patient-centered care focused on your needs.
• World-class teams of experts from various specialties, all under one roof.
• Individualized genetics assessment.
• High-resolution breast screening technologies, including molecular breast imaging, 3D mammogram, also called tomosynthesis, and breast MRI.
• Appointments that may be available within 48 hours at some locations.
• Ability to preschedule surgery and breast reconstruction consults, as needed.
• Expertise in all forms of breast surgery.
• Nipple-sparing mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction.
• Immediate and thorough assessment of the tissue at the time of breast surgery. This is called frozen section pathology.
• Innovative breast reconstruction techniques, including microsurgical flaps and prepectoral implants. This involves placing an implant in front of the chest wall muscle.
• Evaluation and management of ovarian cancer risk.
• Access to research advances and pioneering clinical trials that you are eligible for.
• Unparalleled care from compassionate and empathetic care team.

Risk factors

The High Risk Breast Clinic specializes in the following risk factors:

• Familial and genetic factors. These include a family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer or a gene mutation in yourself or family members. Gene mutations include:
• BRCA1 or BRCA2.
• Neurofibromatosis.
• Other hereditary syndromes with potential breast cancer risk.
• High risk based on risk assessment model. You and your healthcare professional can use results from a breast cancer risk assessment to learn if you have an increased risk of breast cancer.
• Tissue-based findings. These findings are the result of breast biopsies. They may include atypical ductal hyperplasia, atypical lobular hyperplasia and lobular carcinoma in situ, also called LCIS. Other benign breast diagnoses include:
• Flat epithelial atypia
• Cytologic atypia
• Papilloma
• Sclerosing adenosis
• Radial scar
• Other. For example, another risk factor is a history of radiation therapy to chest.