One in eight women are affected by breast cancer, according to Dr. Winifred Leung, a radiologist who specializes in breast imaging.
Since it’s so common, millions of women live in fear of “the C word.” But doctors and experts reassured that advancements in treatment are being made every day, and that patients have an army there for them here in Santa Barbara.
With Breast Cancer Awareness Month underway, the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center and Sutter Health opened up the floor to a panel of experts at an event on Friday.
The panel featured six doctors specializing in different aspects of breast cancer treatment, from surgeons to radiologists to genetic testing experts. They answered questions from the audience and discussed treatment advancements, the danger of predatory AI spreading misinformation and an overall positive shift toward breast cancer treatment becoming less invasive and more personalized.
But according to event moderator Lindsay Cortina, conversations around general breast health need to be normalized, as they are a part of womanhood. The conversation also touched on body image, the mental health impacts of recovery and support systems.
“For many years, women have been encouraged to think about their breasts primarily in October, but primarily about cancer,” Cortina said. “But breast health is connected to womanhood, identity, sexuality, intimacy, motherhood and lifelong health.”
Leung kicked off the panel by discussing the screening and diagnosis process.
She explained that annual breast cancer screenings should begin when women turn 40.
“I usually make the analogy of going to get your teeth cleaned, and your dentist walks in to see if you have a cavity,” Leung said. “You don’t have a toothache, you’re just looking for early detection.”
Leung explained how she uses tomosynthesis, a type of 3D x-ray used during mammograms, to screen for early signs of cancer. The process has become more personalized throughout the years: patients fill out questionnaires about their tissue density, if they’ve had children and their menstrual cycles to determine whether or not they need supplemental screening.
The impact of AI is the hot topic in nearly every field in 2026. But Leung said that for cancer medicine, AI is nothing new—computers are used to pick up things too small for the human eye. However, with AI becoming more widespread, small companies advertise to breast cancer patients, claiming that their AI can pick up things radiation might have missed. Leung said this is a scam.
“Those kinds of targeted efforts worry me, I think it’s predatory,” Leung said. “Going forward we have to make sure that we have AI working for us as opposed to working against us.”
Dr. Katrina Mitchell, a breast surgical oncologist, then spoke on how breast surgery has evolved to be less invasive. Though Mitchell is a surgeon, she said the most exciting advancement in breast cancer surgery is that non-operative treatments are becoming more common.
For example, the lymph nodes are often the first place breast cancer spreads to. Mitchell said that the 2020s have been about omitting lymph nodes surgery altogether. In the 2000s, they would be completely removed when a patient was diagnosed with breast cancer as a cautious measure.
“In the world of surgery, we are actually pulling back rather than having a heavier hand with the scalpel,” Mitchell said. “We want to maintain everyone’s quality of life.”
After surgery, breast cancer patients then go to plastic surgeons for reconstruction. Another panelist, Dr. Daniel Wong discussed how post-op problems with breast implants after mastectomies are poorly understood. He studies blood flow with scans around the region to try to avoid these problems.
Another doctor on the panel, Dr. Maria Campos, designs treatments for breast cancer. She spoke about how through the treatment process, patients often lose their dignity with the loss of their hair. She designs less invasive chemotherapy treatments and gives patients cold caps to slow down hair loss.
“The first thing I tell them is we’re going to be fine,” Campos said. “We’re in this together, we got you. This is not a death sentence.”
One last panelist, Chandler Hinman is a genetic counselor who specializes in cancer. She debunked the popular myth that breast cancer is primarily hereditary. In fact, Hinman said, only 5-10% of breast cancer cases are hereditary. However, she mentioned that there can often be connections and patterns between cases of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer.
Several members of the audience were survivors of breast cancer. They asked questions to the panel about how to know when to come back if they feel like something is wrong. Campos reassured that the first year after patients become cancer free is the hardest—they have to learn to trust their bodies again—and explained how to perform self-exams.
The panel also described the breast cancer survivors, patients and healthcare providers of Santa Barbara as a community.
“We live in a very small, very close community,” said panelist Dr. Winifred Leung, a radiologist who specializes in breast imaging. “I see my patients at the grocery store. I’m glad that we’ve come together to put on this community event, because it’s really about caring for one another.”
