For Twin Tiers women seeking diagnostic breast health services, Corning Hospital has been a reliable and welcoming resource. Guthrie's Breast Care Center at Corning Hospital committed to women's breast health. Our comprehensive breast care program offers mammography, clinical breast exams, breast care education and more. 

We were the first to offer digital mammogram in the region and our standard of care incorporates routine clinical breast examinations and mammograms in concert with your own monthly breast self-examinations at home. At Corning Hospital's Breast Care Center, we follow all American Cancer Society and American College of Radiology guidelines. Click below to learn more about breast health and breast cancer.

• About the Redesigned Breast Care Center at Corning Hospital

• Digital Mammography, Breast MRI and Breast Ultrasound

• The Importance of Mammography - Recommended Screening Guidelines

• Comprehensive Breast Care Program

• High-Risk Breast Clinic

• Breast Care Center Team

Cancer Services Program of Steuben County

If you are a women who is under or uninsured, we at Corning Hospital will help you with access to the Cancer Services Program of Steuben County. This grant-funded program assures qualified women access to mammography and other cancer screenings, as well as additional treatment as needed at no, or low cost.

About the Redesigned Breast Care Center at Corning Hospital  

In June 2008, the new Breast Care Center was opened at Corning Hospital. Originally only 950 square feet, the new facility is located in 4,700 square feet of space and sensitively was well appointed with women in mind. Privacy is of paramount importance, and comfortable, quiet rooms are set aside for women to meet with their physician, to change into a dressing gown, to receive mammograms and to be examined. There is also a much larger waiting room, offering a calm setting for women prior to their appointments.

Aesthetically, the renovated center combines a warm color palette coupled with donated art pieces from local artist Lucretia West, specifically conceptualized to be sensitive to the women's experiences within of a breast diagnostic center.

Support for the renovation project came from several sources, notably the Auxiliary of Corning Hospital, which has contributed more than $829,000 during its existence to the hospital, and from the LPGA Corning Classic, the proceeds of the annual tournament putting almost $1.2 million donated over 30 years.

The Breast Care Center at Corning Hospital also continues to offer the benefits of advanced technology to women, including digital mammography, which provide clearer images for diagnosis; stereotactic breast biopsy, a sophisticated technique employed to determine if a mass is malignant; a room specifically outfitted for breast ultrasound; and a special radiologist reading room, offering the best tools available to radiologists in their effort to evaluate diagnostic studies.  

"Every year we provide breast health and mammography services to more than 4,000 women,” Dr. Olmstead says. "So our goal with this project was to create an environment designed specifically for women to support optimized individualized care. I think we've accomplished that with our new Breast Care Center, and I believe our patients would agree.”

Digital Mammography, Breast MRI and Breast Ultrasound

The Digital Age combines with traditional methods to detect breast cancer.

Advances in technology undoubtedly have had a huge impact on the medical field, but the surge in innovation in the area of breast

 cancer diagnostics plays a special role. When it comes to breast cancer detection, new and old methods can complement each other to deliver the most accurate information as quickly as possible.

Digital technology has opened up new avenues in breast cancer diagnostics, notably in the realm of mammography. Traditional diagnostic mammography is an X-ray image of the breasts used to check for cancer after a lump or other sign or symptom has been found. Recent breakthroughs have moved imaging away from film and over to digital media, which not only provide clearer images of breast tissue, but eliminate the need for physical transportation of films from site to site.

Joseph Bifano, MD, Guthrie's Chief of Radiology at Corning and Robert Packer Hospitals, works regularly with digital mammography. Dr. Bifano says the clarity of the technology helps him better differentiate between malignancies from noncancerous calcifications and benign nodules. Dr. Bifano says computerized radiology across the diagnostic spectrum enhances service to patients and clinicians.

"Women have the latest in technology available to them to diagnose breast cancer. The quality of digital images, working in conjunction with advancements of our new picture archive computer system (that we refer to as PACS), and the added benefit of voice recognition software, helps me read a mammogram more effectively – and get answers to our patients faster.” Dr. Bifano says.

Breast MRI is another way that enhanced technology provides better diagnosis for many breast cancer patients. Instead of using X-rays, MRI uses magnetic force to generate anatomical images with incredible precision and detail – all without any radiation. Breast MRI plays an important role in the staging of cancer, and, for patients with lobular cancer, it provides a second look at the other breast – important because lobular breast cancer carries a 15-20 percent risk of developing in the other breast. Stereotactic breast biopsy is another diagnostic option, used to obtain samples by needle from an abnormal mass. The radiologist takes X-ray images of breast tissue from two different angles, and uses computerization to process the images, locate the abnormality and calculate its precise coordinates.

Using the computer as a guide, the physician then can accurately place a needle in the suspicious tissue, and retrieve a sample to be sent to the laboratory for diagnosis. Dr. Bifano is well-versed in digital mammography, breast ultrasound and breast MRI – all of which are offered within the Guthrie system. He's one of four Guthrie radiologists dealing specifically with breast health.

"Working in this field, I have the ability to make a difference by using all of the tools at my disposal to potentially help save someone's life,” Bifano says. "As challenging as the thought of breast cancer may be, it's of critical importance for women to do all they can in order to find it as early as possible.”

An Important Message from the staff of Mammography Services at 

Corning Hospital and Healthworks: 

Recommended Screening Guidelines

According to the American Cancer Society, women age 40 and over should get annual mammograms.

 

American Cancer Society Early Detection Guidelines:
Age 20 - 39 Clinical breast exam by a doctor or nurse every three years Monthly breast self exam Age 40+ Annual mammography Annual clinical breast exam by a doctor or nurse Monthly breast self exam

Comprehensive Breast Care Program

The Breast Care Center at Corning Hospital is staffed by female Registered Nurses and Radiology Technologists who care about your comfort and privacy.

Mammography services include digital mammography with R2 computer assisted detection, ultrasound, digital breast MRI, ductogram, needle localization, needle biopsy, ultrasound core biopsy, stereotactic breast biopsy, and cyst aspiration. A clinical breast self examination instruction is given upon request by a Mammocare certified specialist. 

Mammography results are available before you leave the center and a radiologist is present to answer your questions. If needed, a certified breast health navigator is available to assist women with abnormal mammograms by providing educational and emotional support.

Call (607) 937-8674 to schedule your mammogram appointment. 

Meet Our Breast Care Center Specialists - click here

High-Risk Breast Clinic

Mabel English, RN teaches women self-breast examination at the Breast Care Center at Corning Hospital.

The High-Risk Breast Clinic offers special services to women at increased risk for breast cancer due to family history, previous abnormal biopsies or other risk factors.

At the initial appointment, high-risk women receive a thorough exam and screening to determine risk, including:

• review of family medical history

• review of personal risk factors

• a clinical breast exam

• educational information

• genetic counseling

• genetic analysis

After the initial assessment, a woman at high risk has two appointments at the High-Risk Clinic annually — once for a clinical breast exam only, and again for another clinical breast exam and a mammogram or another test as needed (i.e. breast MRI and ultrasound).

High-Risk Clinic professionals emphasize the importance of early detection and act as a first line of defense for women who know they are at high risk for breast cancer.

At Guthrie's High-Risk Breast Clinic, women can refer themselves or be referred by a primary care provider or specialist.

Meet Our Breast Care Center Specialists - click here

For more information or to make an appointment at the Guthrie High-Risk Breast Clinic nearest to you, call:
Corning Cancer Center – (607) 937-3100
Corning-Steuben – (607) 973-8600
Ithaca – (607) 257-5858
Sayre – (570) 882-2265