A8

Telegraph-Journal

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

The number of patients having mammograms should increase by about 30 per cent early next year, when St. Joseph's Hospital receives $700,000 worth of digital mammography equipment that is on order, says Dr. John Allan, a radiologist in charge of the hospital's breast imaging program.

Enlarge Photo

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (Atlantic) has given St. Joseph's $100,000 to help buy the equipment. Earlier, Repsol YPF, the Sisters of Charity and a number of other donors also contributed.

"Health care in New Brunswick is undergoing a massive transformation," said Nancy Margeson, Atlantic region CEO of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF). "We want to make sure that breast cancer receives the support it needs during this critical time."

The benefits of the new digital equipment are numerous, says Allan.

"We can do more patients because it does it a lot faster, it does the same test with a reduced dose of radiation to the patient and, in younger women, particularly women with dense breasts, pre-menopausal women, it has been found to be more sensitive to finding breast cancers than the traditional film mammography."

Right now, asymptomatic women waiting for routine screening mammograms wait around four months for an appointment at St. Joseph's, while women waiting for diagnostic mammography can wait two weeks to a month, said Allan.

"With this new technology, those wait lists will drop," says Allan.

Screening wait times in the province are as long as 54 weeks, compared to the national average of 12 weeks, according to CBCF.

St. Joseph's new digital machine will replace a 17-year-old film mammography machine. An older machine was taken out of service a year ago because it was hard to keep it working.

"It's really just the start," says Allan.

"We really need to get back to the point where we have two or three pieces of equipment over there. We really need them all to be digital.

"This one will end up being a workhorse because I imagine we'll be trying to do most of our patients through this one piece of equipment."

St. Joseph's short-term goal is to have two digital machines, he said.

"We'll have to assess the volume and determine what's the best next step with respect to a third machine at St. Joseph's or a mobile machine that travels around the region or the province."

Fredericton has had digital mammography equipment for about a year, while Moncton just received one and is getting two more.eanwhile, Allan says not enough women are being screened.

"Enrolment in screening in Saint John is around 40 to 50 per cent. We really need to get to every woman who is in the screening age group."

It's really important for women aged 40 to 70, he said. New Brunswick's program screens women between the ages of 50 and 69 with the screening rate at about 54 per cent.

"We're pushing to start at 40," he said. "We see a lot of breast cancers and more aggressive breast cancers in those women."

Laurie Flood, the hospital foundation's executive-director, says donations like the breast foundation's offer encouragement to Allan and his team "as they help to develop the best breast screening program possible for women in our community.

"Their vision for St. Joseph's Hospital is that with early detection and high quality mammography screening we can change the face of breast cancer for the patients we serve."

The funding is part of more than $1.8 million in grants that were announced in Atlantic Canada following CBCF's annual general meeting. CBCF Atlantic is the only region of the organization that still funds the purchase of capital equipment.

In addition to equipment, CBCF also awarded funds for research, education and wellness activities for survivors throughout the region: research at the Université de Moncton to examine the role of the PAX-5 gene on the development of cancerous cells; acquisition of breast cancer resource material for the Friends of the New Brunswick Libraries Foundation, to be made available across the province's public library system; research at the Dalhousie University Family Medicine Teaching Unit in Fredericton to examine the rehabilitation needs of young breast cancer survivors and promotional materials for the Breasts Ahoy Dragon Boat Team to raise awareness of the team and its messages of healthy living and support for survivors.

CBCF has set a goal to have 85 per cent of all eligible women routinely screened for breast cancer by 2010.

Français: Le nombre de patients subissant des mammographies devrait augmenter d'environ 30 pour cent au début de l'an prochain lorsque l'hôpital Saint-Joseph recevra de l'équipement de mammographie digital d'une valeur de 700 000 $.