This year´s congress of the German Society of Senology (June 21.-23. in Lübeck, Germany) will deal with latest developments in the diagnosis and therapy of breast cancer like screening and early detection methods or new diagnostic modalities.
By Henning von Eicke of Roche Diagnostics GmbH
`ELIOT means that single-fraction radiation of 21 Gy is delivered directly to the tumour bed during a surgical intervention, to a depth of about 3 cm,´ Professor Prott explained.
20% of all cancers diagnosed annually among Lithuanian women is cancer of the breast. Screening programms should reduce this number.
Targeted medication and gentle surgical procedures are the pillars of modern breast cancer therapy, according to participants at this years German Congress of Senology.
Carrying a mutated BRIP1 gene doubles the risk of breast cancer — by aged 70 these women's risk rises from 1-in-12 to 1-in-6.
AstraZeneca has been collaborating with researchers who detected a potential Aurora B inhibitor.
An unparalleled legal challenge has been underway in the EU regarding the number of human gene patents held by US-based corporation Myriad Genetics.
Currently, five years of treatment with tamoxifen is considered the 'gold-standard' treatment for postmenopausal women with breast cancer. This drug blocks oestrogen, which can help fuel the growth of tumours in some cases.
USA - Engineers are developing a tiny wireless device - the size of a rice grain - to be implanted in tumours to indicate the precise radiation dose received and to locate the exact position of tumours during treatment.
The new Emscher-Lippe Breast Care Centre, based in the Marienhospital in Gelsenkirchen, but serving six hospitals* and four private practices, was established following a directive issued by Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia regional government.
Mammography as a diagnostic procedure to evaluate detected tumours is not an issue. But because the technique is performed, in screening programmes, on apparently healthy people, for ethical reasons it becomes an issue.
Mammography plays a critical part in diagnosing breast cancer. Although this does not prevent the disease, diagnosing breast cancer as early as possible can save lives.
Austria is the only 'old' EU Member State that has not implemented a national breast cancer screening programme.
Ballon Brachytherapy and effective drug combination.
Modern methods and technology make it possible to combine out- and inpatient treatment through comprehensive, overlapping systems and to standardise and optimise early diagnosis, therapy and aftercare for malignant diseases of the female breast regionally.
Siemens Medical Solutions reports that the first installations have been completed in France, Germany, Italy and Sweden of its new all-in-one system for digital full-field mammography, named Mammomat Novation.
Karlsruhe, Germany - A new type of ultrasound computed tomography (CT) system promising to improve diagnosis significantly is currently being developed at the Research Centre Karlsruhe.
The Swedish firm Sectra reports that its digital MicroDose Mammography system reduces radiation by 80%, compared with traditional film-based systems, and that its completely new detection technology allows this without compromising image quality.
More sensitive dissemination tests are needed for patients with locoregionally recurrent (LRR) breast cancer, according to a paper by Dutch researchers published online by the European Journal of Cancer (Volume 40, Issue 10 , 7/2004).
Although X-ray mammography can detect small cancers before they have spread. However, because abnormalities can only be identified non-specifically, percutaneous or surgical breast biopsy must follow - but less than 20% of women recalled for biopsies have cancer.
Interviewed by Daniela Zimmermann, Executive Director of EH, Jean Hooks, General Manager, Global Mammography at GE Healthcare, examined reasons behind the slow uptake of digital technology in some European countries, comparing this with its early adoption in the USA
Financed by the Ministry of Health, nine regional screening organisations arrange and implement the Dutch national breast cancer screening programme, in which, every two years, all women from 50-75 years of age are invited for a free mammogram at one of the 62 screening points, of which 56 are mobile vans.
Germany's Federal Committee of Physicians and Statutory Health Insurance Funds set up three model projects, based in Bremen, Wiesbaden and Weser-Ems, to trial the third edition of the European guidelines on healthcare within the German system and to develop the necessary organisational structures to make these work.
