Breast Cancer Evaluation
The Avon Foundation Comprehensive Breast Evaluation Center offers women the most advanced breast imaging, surgical screening, and pathology services available.
Our Approach
The Avon Foundation Comprehensive Breast Evaluation Center offers women the most advanced breast imaging, surgical screening and pathology services available.
Multidisciplinary Patient Care
Each patient who comes to our center to be evaluated and treated for breast concerns benefits from the hospital's wide network of specialists and treatment options. If cancer care is needed, we will assemble a care team up of experts from all areas of oncology, including surgical oncology, medical oncology, and radiation oncology to coordinate your treatment. The radiologists and pathologists who diagnose and stage breast cancer are also an integral part of this care team.
Learn more about the treatment of breast cancer at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center’s Gillette Center for Breast Cancer.
Expertise in Diagnosing and Staging Breast CancersOur program is a leader in screening and diagnosing breast cancer. Our radiologists and pathologists are highly specialized in the evaluation of breast cancers. Each patient receives a customized plan that incorporates the diagnostic modalities that are most appropriate for their condition.
Quick and accurate diagnosis and staging of cancer are key to selecting the right course of treatment. We use a full range of highly sophisticated imaging and surgical procedures to determine the location and stage of each cancer.
Among the imaging techniques offered here are:
- Mammography, an X-ray of the breast
- Digital mammography, a mammogram that uses x-ray detectors and a computer to create the X-ray image
- Computer aided detection (CAD), a technique that can be applied to the mammography exams to identify and mark regions that might indicate possible cancer and require further analysis
- Ultrasound, a noninvasive procedure that uses high-frequency sound waves to image an internal body structure
- Breast MRI, used to supplement mammography in some cases; this test uses a powerful magnetic field, radio waves and a computer to produce detailed pictures of organs, soft tissues, bone and many other internal body structures
- Digital tomosynthesis, which produces a 3-D image of the breast tissue
SurgerySurgical procedures are often used to determine if a suspect lump seen in an image is cancerous, and if so, how far the cancer has advanced. Among the procedures used are:
- Fine needle aspiration, a procedure in which a very thin needle is inserted into the breast and a small amount of tissue is withdrawn for laboratory examination
- Stereotactic and ultrasound guided biopsies, in which surgeons use imaging technology to guide them in conducting the biopsy
- Excisional biopsy, which removes the lump or the whole mass of abnormal tissue from the breast so it can be examined by a pathologist
- Core biopsies, similar to fine needle biopsy, this technique uses a slightly larger needle and usually done under local anesthesia
- Needle-localized breast biopsies, uses a tiny wire to remove a small amount of tissue from the breast area that looks abnormal on an x-ray
- Sentinel node biopsy, a technique used to see if the cancer has spread beyond the breast by mapping the lymph system connected to a cancer to a single node and removing only that node for biopsy
StagingStaging is the process of determining how advanced a cancer is and whether it has spread, or metastasized, to other areas of the body. Among the tests to determine staging are:
- Blood tests
- Chest X-rays
- CT scans of the bones, abdomen, or brain
- MRI
PathologyOur pathologists are highly specialized experts in diagnosing and staging breast cancers. Quick and accurate diagnosis and staging of cancer are key to selecting an appropriate treatment plan. Since our breast pathologists focus only on breast diagnoses, they are skilled at evaluating the nuances of each patient’s tumor.
Pathologists are key members of each patient’s care team. In addition, our experts are actively engaged in research to refine and improve diagnostic techniques, as well as to better determine the impact of treatment early on. Many of our specialists are consulted from around the country and the world for their breast cancer pathology expertise.
Better Treatment Through ResearchMany of the specialists and subspecialists in our program are involved in research to improve the diagnosis and treatments forbreast cancer. Included in these studies are:
- Investigations to identify more ways to use MRI for women with prior breast cancer
- 3-D imaging of breast tissue using tomosynthesis
- Research to better understand the molecular features of individual breast cancers
- Identifying through genetic signatures which breast cancers will respond to hormone therapy and which will not
- Gene-expression profiling to identify which women are at higher risk of recurrence and therefore may benefit from more aggressive treatment
Contact UsAvon Foundation Comprehensive Breast Evaluation Center
55 Fruit Street
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 877-789-6100
About This ProgramWe have an extensive understanding of breast health and breast cancer at our center because that is our only focus. Our program offers comprehensive evaluation for:
- Breast lumps
- Abnormal mammograms
- Nipple discharge
- Other breast problems
Multidisciplinary Patient CareEach patient who comes to our center to be evaluated and treated for breast concerns benefits from the hospital’s wide network of specialists and treatment options. If cancer care is needed, we will assemble a care team made up of experts from all areas of oncology, including surgical oncology, medical oncology, and radiation oncology to coordinate your treatment. The radiologists and pathologists who diagnose and stage breast cancer are also an integral part of this care team.
Learn more about the treatment of breast cancer at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center’s Gillette Center for Breast Cancer.
Better Treatment Through ResearchMany of the specialists and subspecialists in our program are involved in research to improve the diagnosis of breast cancer. Included in these studies are:
- Investigations to identify more ways to use MRI for women with prior breast cancer
- 3-D imaging of breast tissue using tomosynthesis
- Research to better understand the molecular features of individual breast cancers
- Identifying through genetic signatures which cancers will respond to hormone therapy and which will not
- Gene-expression profiling to identify which women are at higher risk of recurrence and therefore may benefit from more aggressive treatment
Contact Us:Avon Foundation Comprehensive Breast Evaluation Center
55 Fruit Street
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 877-789-6100
HOPES Program
The HOPES Program provides free wellness services, plus education and support workshops for patients with cancer, their families and their friends. Our services focus on helping you take care of your whole self – mind, body and spirit.
Maxwell V. Blum Cancer Resource Room
The Maxwell V. Blum Cancer Resource Room at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center provides cancer patients and their families with information and resources for living with cancer.
Illuminations Program
Illuminations is a rotating art exhibit displayed in the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. The program aims to enlighten and encourage patients and their loved ones by enhancing our environment of care.
Cancer Center
NA55 Fruit Street
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 877-726-5130
TDD Phone: NA
(for the hearing impaired)
Fax: NA
Public Transportation Access: yes
Disabled Access: yes
Request an appointment at the Cancer Center 
Contact the Cancer Center to schedule an appointment with one of our cancer specialists
Discover the Cancer Center patient experience
Our approach to patient care unites cancer specialists across the hospital to create a personalized treatment plan for each patient, ensuring the best possible outcomes.
