Alternative Breast Cancer Treatment at CMN Hospital
All Breast Cancer Subtypes • Advanced 28-Day Inpatient Care
Dr. Edgar Payán treats women with all types and subtypes of breast cancer at CMN Hospital (Centro Médico del Noroeste), including hormone-positive, HER2-positive, triple-positive, triple-negative, recurrent, metastatic, and advanced breast cancer.
Treatment is provided within CMN Hospital (Centro Médico del Noroeste), a licensed full-service hospital in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, Mexico. Physician evaluations, therapies, laboratory services, nutritional care, meals, nursing care, and daily medical supervision are coordinated within one inpatient hospital setting.
Dr. Payán’s 28-day Advanced Cancer Treatment Program is individualized for each woman based on her diagnosis, pathology, hormone receptor and HER2 status, imaging, laboratory findings, previous treatments, medications, present condition, immune health, nutritional needs, and overall medical evaluation.
When You Have Been Told Nothing More Can Be Done
Many women find Dr. Payán after extensive cancer treatment and hearing words they never expected to hear: there is nothing more that can be done.
At CMN Hospital, Dr. Payán looks carefully at the woman in front of him and reviews her medical case again. For many patients, that means learning that additional treatment possibilities may still be available.
Dendritic cell therapy is administered weekly throughout all four weeks of the inpatient program. For eligible patients, Dr. Payán may also include autologous bone marrow stem cell therapy using the woman’s own healthy stem cells, confirmed free of cancer involvement before proceeding.
Throughout the 28-day program, patients remain inside CMN Hospital with 24-hour physician oversight, nursing care, laboratory monitoring, and continuous inpatient medical supervision.
Bone Marrow Stem Cell Therapy May Be Considered Across Breast Cancer Subtypes
Dr. Payán may evaluate women with any breast cancer subtype for autologous bone marrow stem cell therapy as part of the 28-day inpatient cancer treatment program.
CMN Hospital performs its own bone marrow pathology before an eligible patient proceeds with treatment. The marrow must be free of cancer involvement before her own healthy stem cells are used.
Hematopoietic stem cells give rise to important blood and immune cells, including Natural Killer (NK) cells. This is one reason healthy bone marrow and the patient’s own immune system are important parts of Dr. Payán’s treatment approach.
Understanding Breast Cancer
Breast cancer develops when abnormal cells in the breast grow in an uncontrolled way. It may begin in the milk ducts, lobules, or other breast tissue and can sometimes spread to lymph nodes, bones, liver, lungs, brain, or other areas of the body.
Breast cancer is not one single disease. Tumors may differ by location, stage, hormone receptor status, HER2 status, grade, genetic features, prior treatment response, and whether the cancer is newly diagnosed, recurrent, or metastatic.
Because breast cancer can behave differently from one woman to another, Dr. Payán reviews pathology, imaging, receptor testing, previous treatments, laboratory findings, and the patient’s overall medical condition when considering her treatment plan.
Types of Breast Cancer
Breast cancer may be described by where it begins, whether it has spread, and the biological features found through pathology testing.
Invasive Ductal Carcinoma
The most common type of invasive breast cancer, beginning in the milk ducts and spreading into nearby breast tissue.
Invasive Lobular Carcinoma
A type of breast cancer that begins in the lobules and may be more difficult to detect on routine imaging.
DCIS
Ductal carcinoma in situ is a non-invasive breast cancer confined to the milk ducts.
LCIS
Lobular carcinoma in situ is not invasive cancer, but it may indicate an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
Hormone Receptor and HER2 Status
Breast cancer is also classified by hormone receptor and HER2 testing. These findings help physicians understand the biology of the tumor and are important when reviewing previous treatment and current treatment planning.
ER+/PR+, HER2-Negative
Hormone receptor-positive breast cancer may respond to treatments that block estrogen or progesterone activity.
ER+/PR+, HER2-Positive
This breast cancer is both hormone receptor-positive and HER2-positive.
HER2-Positive, HR-Negative
This breast cancer is HER2-positive without estrogen or progesterone receptor involvement.
Triple-Negative
Triple-negative breast cancer does not express estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, or HER2.
Triple-Positive
Triple-positive breast cancer is positive for estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and HER2.
Recurrent or Metastatic
Breast cancer may return after treatment or spread to distant areas of the body, requiring careful review of previous care and current findings.
Signs and Symptoms
- A lump or thickened area in the breast or underarm
- Changes in breast size, shape, or contour
- Skin dimpling, redness, scaling, or thickening
- Nipple inversion or nipple changes
- Nipple discharge, including bloody discharge
- Breast swelling, tenderness, or pain
- Enlarged lymph nodes near the breast or underarm
How Breast Cancer Is Diagnosed
Diagnosis and treatment planning may involve several tests to confirm the breast cancer type, stage, receptor status, and extent of disease.
- Mammography
- Breast ultrasound
- Breast MRI
- Core needle biopsy or surgical biopsy
- Pathology review
- Estrogen receptor testing
- Progesterone receptor testing
- HER2 testing
- Ki-67 or tumor proliferation testing when indicated
- Genetic testing, including BRCA1 and BRCA2 when appropriate
- CT, PET, bone scan, or other imaging when metastatic disease is suspected
Breast Cancer Stages
Stage 0
Non-invasive breast cancer, such as DCIS, confined to the milk ducts.
Stage I
Early breast cancer that is small and may or may not involve nearby lymph nodes.
Stage II
Breast cancer that may be larger or involve nearby lymph nodes.
Stage III
Locally advanced breast cancer involving more extensive lymph node or nearby tissue involvement.
Stage IV
Metastatic breast cancer that has spread to distant areas of the body.
Conventional Treatment Options
Conventional treatment recommendations vary based on cancer type, stage, receptor status, previous treatments, genetic findings, and the patient’s overall health.
- Lumpectomy or breast-conserving surgery
- Mastectomy
- Sentinel lymph node biopsy
- Axillary lymph node dissection
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
- Hormone therapy
- HER2-targeted therapy
- Immunotherapy for selected patients
- Targeted therapy based on tumor features
- Breast reconstruction
- Clinical trials when appropriate
Advanced and Recurrent Breast Cancer
Many women who contact CMN Hospital have already received surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, HER2-targeted therapy, immunotherapy, or other treatments before seeking additional options. Others may be living with recurrent, persistent, locally advanced, or metastatic breast cancer.
Because breast cancer can change over time and may respond differently after previous treatment, Dr. Payán reviews each patient’s pathology, receptor status, imaging, laboratory findings, treatment history, current condition, and overall health when developing her individualized treatment plan.
Individualized Physician Review
At CMN Hospital, every patient is evaluated individually. Dr. Edgar Payán, General Hospital Director and Medical Director of CMN Hospital, personally reviews each patient’s medical records, pathology reports, receptor testing, imaging studies, laboratory findings, previous treatments, current health status, and other relevant clinical information.
Dr. Payán meets personally with each patient to discuss his findings, answer questions, and explain the treatment plan he develops from her individual medical evaluation.
Why Women Choose and Trust CMN Hospital
Women who come to CMN Hospital often arrive after months or years of appointments, treatment decisions, travel, changing therapies, and uncertainty. Many are looking for a physician who will take the time to look carefully at their complete medical picture and determine what may still be possible.
At CMN Hospital, care takes place within a licensed full-service hospital rather than an outpatient cancer clinic. The hospital provides physician and nursing care, laboratory services, pharmacy services, operating rooms, emergency services, and critical-care capability.
Inside the 28-day inpatient program, therapies, laboratory monitoring, meals, nutritional care, physician evaluations, and daily medical care are coordinated around the patient while she remains within CMN Hospital.
For a woman who believed she had reached the end of her treatment options, having Dr. Payán review her case and finding that there may still be meaningful treatment possibilities can bring something back that she may have thought she had lost: hope.