WIN Featured in MediaPlanet supplement in USA Today
Posted: Friday, November 12, 2010
A unique model to improve healthcare and quality of life of patients with Breast Cancer!
2010-11-12
MediaPlanet supplement in USA Today - A unique model to improve healthcare and quality of life of patients with Breast Cancer!
Women with doubtful cases or inconclusive mammograms are asked to repeat various screenings, scans and mammograms which can take from three to six months. This period of time does generate a deep anxiety and for those with cancer time is lost in the fight against the disease. This wait does not have to be a fatality. Some women have already had the chance to go through these painful moments with a minimal stress at the one-day diagnosis unit at the Institut Gustave Roussy, France (www.igr.fr) which opened under the leadership of Doctor Suzette Delaloge.
This innovative approach was presented during the annual Symposium organized by the WIN Consortium in Paris last summer and was one of its major highlights.
Women arrive in the morning at the hospital and by the end of the day, most of them go home knowing whether the lesion is benign or malignant, knowing the precise diagnosis and the treatment plan.
The One Stop Unit
The One Stop Unit has a multi-disciplinary team of six breast specialists and all decisions are made in a concerted manner. At all times during this emotional day, Specialists and nurses rally around women leaving no time for anxiety to develop. Immediate diagnosis of nodular lesions relies on fine-needle aspiration and immediate cytological examination (FNAC). For other types of lesions, macrobiopsy is performed on the same day and pathological diagnosis is available after a few days.
As of today more than 8,000 women have been screened at the One Stop Unit over a six year period of time. Fourty-five percent of the lesions examined were malignant. Seventy percent of women could get their exact diagnosis after only one day of investigations.
On this selected population, Doctor Fabrice André (trained at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center) was able to demonstrate a gene signature accurately discriminating between benign and malignant lesions. These results, published in Lancet Oncology, 2009, will soon lead to the development of new diagnostic tools enabling early and accurate detection of breast cancer.
Early Diagnosis Essential for Better Care
Early diagnosis is an essential factor to better cancer care. The ability to treat or cure a patient of cancer remains indirectly proportional to the stage of cancer diagnosis. The aim of researchers is hence to reduce as much as possible the time between the scientific discovery and its application to all patients. This is the main objective of the WIN Consortium—Worldwide Innovative Networking in Cancer Personalized Medicine—a joint initiative of the
Institut Gustave Roussy, France and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
“WIN Consortium is a not-for-profit worldwide organization bringing together 22 academic and industry founders across five continents, addressing the challenge of increasing the efficacy of cancer healthcare globally though early diagnosis and personalized therapy, in diverse populations,” said John Mendelsohn, President of the WIN Consortium and President of MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The WIN Consortium is launching its 3rd Annual Symposium on July, 6th to 8th at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. This year will be dedicated to the very challenging topic: Gateways to increasing efficacy of cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. Join this unique event and register today at www.winconsortium.org