SIMI VALLEY : Breast Cancer Clinic Has Helped 4,500

A Simi Valley Hospital breast cancer clinic named in honor of Nancy Reagan has helped more than 4,500 women through early screening, biopsies and surgery in the past year, a spokesman said Monday.

The center offers a relatively new technique for breast cancer biopsies that allows doctors to insert a needle guided by ultrasound into the breast and extract a small sample of tissue.

Unlike surgical biopsies, the so-called core biopsy is nearly painless and causes no disfigurement, hospital personnel said.

The procedure is also available at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura and outpatient centers in Thousand Oaks and Ventura.

The Nancy Reagan Breast Center allows women to seek screening and care for breast cancer near the hospital, said spokesman Dan Upham.

The center at Alamo Street and Sycamore Drive offers women mammograms, core biopsies and some surgeries.

However, for radiation therapy or more complex surgeries, they must go to the hospital, Upham said. “It depends on the complexity of the problem,” he said.