Arlene Ricardo, MD

American Board of Surgery

English, Spanish

The only physician in her family, Dr. Ricardo came to Houston n from New York to do her surgical training. She now has almost 2 decades of experience in breast cancer diagnosis and t reatment along with other surgical diseases of the breast.

When she was 13 years old, her mother died of breast cancer at the age of 47. This inspired her passion in breast health and early detection of breast caner at a young age.

She was one of the first surgeons in the Houston area tospecialize in breast surgery and was instrumental in helping develop the first dedicated breast imaging center in the city at MH Southwest Hospital.

Dr. Ricardo is experienced in all (types of) surgery for the breast ranging from excision of benign and pre-malignant lesions to the wide variety of breast cancer surgery including breast conservation as well as mastectomy. She was an early adopter of minimal axillary surgery with sentinel lymph node mapping and reduced radiation techniques with balloon brachytherapy. Always learning, she is also skilled in the newer techniques of skin sparing and nipple sparing mastectomy. Dr. Ricardo's philosophy for patient care is making patients know that she truly cares about them and their families. "Breast cancer is not only a diagnosis, but affect affects the entire family". Getting to know each patient personally, and sharing her own life with her patients, makes for a good doctor patient relationship where they feel confident and comfortable with her and the care she provides. In addition to caring for her patients, Dr. Ricardo serves on several Memorial Hermann committees (both at the local and system-wide level) and is committed to the enhancement of cancer services in the local community.

Dr. Ricardo is originally of Cuban decent and is fluent in Spanish. She is the first in her fa ily born in the United States. She has 3 sisters, one of whom she diagnosed with breast cancer 2 years ago, and is happy to call her a current survivor. An animal lover, she loves cooking, spending time with friends and family, and traveling the world. Her goal it to travel to all 7 continents. She and her husband res ide in Missouri City.