Breast Cancer Services

Our surgeons use an intraoperative sensor called MarginProbe^®, enabling the surgeon to precisely determine the margins between cancerous and normal tissue and remove all of the tumor with a high degree of accuracy during a lumpectomy. This spares patients the need to return for removal of more breast tissue.

Early-stage breast cancer patients undergoing a lumpectomy may also be candidates for intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT), receiving a single dose of radiation treatment at the tumor site during surgery. Treatment with the Zeiss Intrabeam® intraoperative radiotherapy system may eliminate the need for several weeks of traditional radiation therapy. 

These devices hold enormous promise for improved patient care by dramatically reducing the need for repeat surgeries and traditional radiation therapy, which can involve treatments five days a week for up to six weeks.

Learn more about our innovative breast cancer treatments ›

Our UCI Health breast cancer specialists are dedicated to giving you state-of-the-art care. Our team includes leading surgeons, radiologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and reconstructive surgery specialists, as well as highly trained nurses and other healthcare professionals.

Expertise

Working at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of only 54 NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States, our breast cancer team members integrate the latest research to improve every patient’s health. We are the region's most experienced team with the most advanced therapies and technologies.

All our breast imaging centers are designated a Comprehensive Breast Imaging Center by the American College of Radiology, a designation awarded to the top breast centers in the U.S. that have achieved excellence and accreditation in all aspects of breast imaging. 

We are the first in the nation to use MarginProbe®, a device that helps surgeons ensure that no cancer cells are missed during a lumpectomy. We are also the first in California to pair the surgical device with intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT), a safe and effective alternative to traditional radiation therapy. 

We offer:

• A program accredited by the American College of Surgeons
• Team members, including plastic surgeons trained in microvascular surgery, who strive to provide the most advanced care with the least invasive treatment 
• Advanced mammography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices for breast cancer detection at our centers in Orange, Costa Mesa and Yorba Linda.
• Comfortable examination rooms
• Laboratory results within one day
• Breast health and breast cancer prevention programs

Leading-edge care

Our affiliation with the region's leading cancer research center and Orange County’s only university medical center means that our patients have access to innovative treatments and clinical trials before they are available elsewhere in the community. Our research achievements include:

• Devising chemotherapy that dramatically reduced or eliminated tumors before surgery
• Extending the lives of postmenopausal women that have the most common type of metastatic breast cancer with a combination of the two anti-estrogen drugs

Our physicians pursue research in many areas of breast cancer diagnostics and treatment, including:

• Participation in the Athena Project, a consortium of University of California medical centers that seeks to improve and personalize breast cancer care from diagnosis through treatment and survivorship.
• Involvement in the MarginProbe® clinical trial. Our experts use the intraoperative probe, which is designed to evaluate lumpectomy margins in real time in the operating room.s spares our patients a second procedure to remove more breast tissue, which typically occurs in more than 30 percent of cases.
• Our surgeons also participated in the TARGIT-A clinical trials, delivering precisely targeted radiation to the tumor site during lumpectomies. The procedure, called intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT), may spare a patient from undergoing traditional radiation treatment and its side effects.

View our breast cancer clinical trials ›

The UCI Health breast cancer specialists are a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, radiation oncologists, reconstructive surgeons, researchers, nurses, social workers and other skilled health professionals — all of whom are dedicated to provide you with the best possible care.