Breast Cancer and Comprehensive Breast Care Program

Breast cancer care at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center combines the latest diagnostic tools, innovative treatments, multidisciplinary care teams, and clinical trial opportunities to treat your cancer from all angles. Our program exists not only to help you achieve the best outcomes from your diagnosis, but also to give you the best quality of life.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women aside from skin cancers, with one in eight women being diagnosed during their lifetime. Thankfully, powerful imaging tools such as mammograms and breast MRIs can help detect the disease early when it is easiest to treat.

We’re Here For You

At Hollings, we know a cancer diagnosis can be a life changing event. We are here to support you through your journey. Call 843-792-9300 and make an appointment. Experience what sets us apart.

Treatment and Support

By bringing together breast cancer experts with specialized training in medical oncology, breast imaging, and breast surgery and reconstruction, Hollings offers a well-rounded approach to breast cancer treatment that makes our program the most advanced in South Carolina.

Our program is accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers and includes:

• An Advanced Breast Reconstruction Program that offers you the full spectrum of breast reconstruction options, including the DIEP flap procedure.
• A High-Risk Breast Evaluation Program and genetic counseling program, which offers personalized risk assessments and consultations to determine the best care approach if you have a high risk of developing breast cancer.
• A multidisciplinary tumor review board, which reviews every breast cancer diagnosis along with available treatment options, taking into consideration multiple opinions.
• Physical, emotional, and social support services for breast cancer survivors through our Patient & Family Resources. Our Breast Cancer Survivors’ Fit Club focuses on exercise, nutrition, and other quality of life factors specific to breast cancer survivors.

Nurse Navigator Support

Our breast cancer nurse navigators will help you understand what to expect during treatment and answer questions you may have. Denise Kepecs, BSN, RN, CBCN, and Melanie Wilson, BSN, RN, OCN, are at our downtown Charleston location and Kerry Reilly, BSN, RN, is at the Bluffton Breast Health Center.

Prevention and Screenings

Studies show that routine mammograms reduced a woman’s risk of dying from breast cancer within 10 years of her diagnosis by 41%. MUSC Health’s team of specially trained radiologists offer mammograms at three convenient locations in the Charleston area, making it easy for you to take control of your breast health.

Our comprehensive breast clinic offers same or next-day appointments for new breast concerns, providing prompt access for new or existing patients with no referrals necessary. Regardless of where you have your mammogram done, results are read within 24 hours by a radiologist who specializes in breast imaging.

Our program also offers additional diagnostic tools, including breast MRI, stereotactic biopsies, and computer-aided diagnostics that highlight areas of suspicion within a mammogram.

Breast Cancer Research

Our innovative researchers make groundbreaking advances in the fight against breast cancer that help save lives around the world. Areas of focus for our researchers include improving breast cancer prevention measures, developing new surgical techniques, and reducing health disparities.

Recent projects include:

• How a specific protein in the body can predict which patients are at high risk of developing breast cancer.
• Two clinical trials to assess the effect of natural product supplements, such as frankincense, in patients with invasive breast cancer.
• The effects of diet and lifestyle on breast cancer risk.
• An exploration of changes that occur in the genome during breast cancer development.

In addition, Hollings’ dedicated Breast Transdisciplinary Cancer Team brings together expertise from different disciplines in basic and clinical research for monthly meetings to collaborate on ongoing breast cancer research.

Latest breast cancer news