Cancer Center

  Breast Cancer Program/Team

The breast cancer program multidisciplinary team is lead by program leader and surgeon,  Terry Housinger, MD and Billings Clinic patient care navigator, Mary Lou Simmons, RN, OCN.  Other team members include a medical oncologist, radiation oncologist, radiologist, pathologist, mammography technician, nurse practitioner, breast diagnostic navigator, physical therapist, and social worker.

The focus of this multidisciplinary team is to provide compassionate and coordinated care for individuals with breast cancer through medical expertise, education, and support services. Given the collaborative medical model of Billings Clinic, individuals with abnormal breast findings have streamlined access to the core group of experts involved in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer.

Services offered through this multidisciplinary approach include:

• Prevention education
• Genetic counseling and testing
• Genetic counselor
• Screening and diagnostics, providing highly-personalized care through state-of-the-art technology such as mammography, ultrasound, MRI, image-guided and minimally invasive breast biopsies
• Surgery, including breast conserving surgery
• Medical oncology, including access to innovating clinical trials
• Radiation oncology, including external beam therapy and IMRT
• Patient care navigation
• Support groups and counseling
• Individual and community education

Our clinical trial program has over 23 studies available investigating the latest chemotherapeutic and targeted therapy for early and metastatic breast cancer. We are also involved in trials for prevention of breast cancer.

Treatment options for breast cancer often involves combined treatment modalities. Because of this, members of the multidisciplinary team participate in a Breast Tumor Board twice a month to review cases and ensure best treatment practices are offered to patients.