Welcome to our website, 

At our site I hope you will have the tools necessary for better understanding of what breast cancer is, how we diagnose it and how we arrive at a decision to treat it. Probably most important for a new visitor, I hope we answer the question of why should you be listening to us, and what have we done along the way to earn the trust of women all around the world?

This journey has radically changed for me as an oncologic surgeon/researcher during my professional career that has now spanned more than thirty years. My surgical training took place in the late 1970s. In that era surgeons had no real sophisticated back up in regard to chemotherapy or radiation as is available today. We were taught to just ‘get it all.’ The bigger the tumor, the bigger the knife we got out. Although we didn’t know it at the time how wrong we were.

I founded the Desert Breast Institute in 1988. The mantra was to preserve mind, body and spirit. Seeing pictures of some real patients, both mine and patients elsewhere (which the public never sees), I hope will serve as a real-life answer to the commitment I made to women.  In addition, we have successfully treated invasive breast cancer with only chemotherapy and radiation—no surgery. That is published as an abstract in The Journal of Clinical Oncology, the largest oncology group in the country.

We have also developed a new surgical procedure for optimizing the utilization of Partial Breast Radiation (APBR). I’m really a hybrid cancer doctor, something that wasn’t in existence forty years ago. Back then you were either in research or treating patients. Being that hybrid (involved in both research and executing treatment) is the key to cutting the red tape and getting to what will help the patient most and soonest. My National Cancer Institute principal investigators number is 17790.

I have treated breast-cancer patients with a new office procedure that doesn’t involve traditional surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. Not even a single stitch. We call it “The Lavender Procedure.” It is so named because a number of the patients felt so good immediately after that they went across the street to the Lavender Restaurant for dinner. Contrast that to the situation of aggressive radical surgery, prolonged chemotherapy (with its attendant horrific side effects), and complications from radiation. With the Lavender Procedure, all that goes away.

How can we possibly accomplish that? We use state-of-the-art, FDA approved diagnostic modalities (without radiation) to find what we call ultra-small tumors (3-5mm). Using advanced genetic testing we can tell years ahead of time the likelihood of a particular woman having a local recurrence. Before making a decision on treatment, each patient is afforded the opportunity to consult with the other team members to thoroughly understand the options.

If we can assist you either as the primary doctor or just a second opinion, please do not hesitate to contact us. You will talk to a live person who has compassion and we don’t shut the door at night (even past closing) until everyone in need has been taken care of.

Warm Regards,

Phillip Bretz, M.D.