Women's Services

Know your risk. Create a plan.
Providing you a personalized approach to assess, manage and reduce your risk for breast cancer.

Knowing your personal breast cancer risk
Knowing your personal risk for breast cancer can help you take steps to reduce your chances for developing it or catch it early, when it is most treatable.

For women of average risk, annual mammograms beginning at age 40 continue to be the best tool for early detection of breast cancer. Women at increased risk may benefit from additional screening and other strategies. Knowing your risk can help you make more informed decisions and assist you and your doctor in developing a health plan that is best for you.

Our goal is to give you every advantage in the fight against breast cancer. For that reason, we offer a comprehensive high-risk program to help you learn your risk, work with our specialists to develop an individualized plan and seamlessly coordinate your care. It begins with a breast risk assessment as part of your annual mammogram appointment.

What is a breast risk assessment?
At your annual mammogram appointment, you are provided a wireless tablet with an electronic questionnaire to complete about your family and personal health history. That information is used to calculate your estimated lifetime risk for developing breast cancer using a combination of several validated risk assessment models. A specialized breast health clinician then reviews the results in conjunction with your mammogram results, which are read and reviewed by a board-certified radiologist specializing in breast imaging.

From this, if you are determined to be at potentially higher risk, a breast care coordinator will contact you with your results and help you to schedule a consult with a women's health nurse practitioner in our High-Risk Breast Clinic. The nurse practitioner will work with you to develop an individualized plan of care tailored to your needs, which may include:

• Additional screening, such as breast MRI or ultrasound. (Breast MRI can be more sensitive to certain changes in the breast tissue and, when used with mammography, may provide additional information regarding your breast health.)
• Genetic counseling and testing services
• Additional care management and follow-up provided by the nurse practitioner and physicians
• Risk-reduction strategies (While not all risk factors are controllable, there are lifestyle factors that can help reduce the risk of breast cancer.)

High-Risk Services are available at:
St. Luke's Women's Center at St. Luke's Hospital
232 S. Woods Mill Rd., Ste. 200 East
Chesterfield, MO 63017

St. Luke's Women's Center - Chesterfield Valley
6 McBride & Son Dr., Ste. 102
Chesterfield, MO 63005

For more information about St. Luke's High-Risk Breast Services, call 636-530-5512.

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