Some women have a higher risk of developing breast cancer. The St. Clair Health High Risk Breast Clinic offers you specialized services for your breast health. Our breast specialists help you understand your personal risk factors for breast cancer and your level of risk. They help you develop a personalized plan for breast cancer screening and prevention.

Early detection of breast cancer and state-of-the-art cancer treatment are the most important strategies to prevent deaths from breast cancer. Several risk assessment tools are available to help health care professionals estimate the likelihood that a woman will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.

High Risk Screening Tool

St. Clair Health has implemented a comprehensive screening tool called the Tyrer-Cuzick Risk Assessment Model. This tool, also used by our clinical collaborator Mayo Clinic, will determine your estimated risk of developing breast cancer. During your mammogram services, you will be asked a series of questions about your personal and family medical history. Those answers along with your mammogram results will enable our radiologist to determine if you are at a higher risk for developing breast cancer.

“The goal is to give women
who are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer clinical support, along with tools to keep a closer eye on breast health. By identifying these patients, we hope to catch cancers earlier, giving them a much better chance of survival,” says Bibianna A. Klepchick, MD,
Director of Breast Imaging.

If you are considered “high risk”, you may be referred to our High Risk Breast Clinic. The Clinic staffed with a multidisciplinary team of experts in breast health proactively manages your care and is committed to creating a unique plan for each patient with a single goal: to prevent breast cancer.

“This is about helping you understand where you are so we can get you where you need to go,” says Raye J. Budway, MD, Director of St. Clair’s Breast Care Center, adding, “The New High Risk Breast Program will help standardize the evaluation of each patient.”

If you qualify, you will meet with one of our high-risk breast providers to help develop a personalized screening action plan. During this appointment, you will better understand how your estimated risk is calculated and what you can do to help reduce your risk. Your first visit will be with one of the participating providers who will review your history, answer all of your questions and establish a care plan. The clinic will help schedule and coordinate regular clinical breast exams, radiology screening and preventative measures.