New Breast Clinics Work Together To Offer Pioneering Breast Screening

Many women concerned about breast cancer will be given access to a professional network of over thirty specialist clinics from BreastHealth UK, following announcements of a strategic partnership between Spire Healthcare and BHUK.

[UKPRwire, Mon Jun 01 2009] Many women concerned about breast cancer will be given access to a professional network of over thirty specialist clinics from BreastHealth UK, following announcements of a strategic partnership between Spire Healthcare and BHUK.

Following the success of the first clinic, which was established 6 months ago at Spire’s Breast Care Clinic at Cambridge Lea Hospital, BHUK and Spire Healthcare have agreed to collaborate on a further 30 specialist breast screening clinics. These will be based at Spire hospitals across the country and will be opened during the next 24 months.

BHUK offers comprehensive, personalised and private breast screening services designed to help women gain peace-of-mind when NHS screening is unavailable or difficult to obtain. A unique addition to its range of services is Digital Infrared BreastScan, which offers safe and non-invasive technology to support breast cancer screening in younger women. It will be available in the UK exclusively from BreastHealth UK.

Digital Infrared BreastScan (DIB) is a non-contact technique that picks up ‘hot spots’ that may be caused by increased blood flow to cancerous tissue and has the potential to pick up tumours at an early stage. The technique is particularly suitable for women under 50 and complements other screening technologies.

Gordon Wishart, Consultant Breast Surgeon and Medical Director of BreastHealth UK, explains that screening of breast tissue for the early detection of cancer has traditionally been done using mammography – a low-dose x-ray examination of the breast – but that this is generally much less sensitive, and not widely available, for women younger than 50.

“Mammography is recommended for women older than 50 and available as part of the routine NHS screening. However, it is less sensitive in younger women who have much denser breast tissue, and this makes tumours much more difficult to detect. Some women also find mammography uncomfortable which can deter them from participating in screening programmes.”

Patients are seated opposite a digital infrared camera with their breasts exposed to a stream of cooled air. Around 1,000 images are taken over a four-minute examination and these are analysed to show the areas with the greatest temperature difference compared to surrounding tissue. The temperature difference seen in these ‘hot spots’ is due to the increased blood flow to cancerous tissue and the development of micro-vessels in and around tumours.

“Our aim is to provide peace of mind for women of all ages concerned about their breast health and to offer personalised screening for those at higher risk. With Digital Infrared BreastScan there is no exposure to radiation, so it can safely be used as part of ongoing monitoring on a 6- or 12-monthly basis.”

Over the coming months BHUK is expected to expand its services to include genetic testing as well. The Spire Healthcare network will offer national coverage for sample collection and consultations and the partnership will see clinics set up across the country.

Dr JJ de Gorter, Director of Clinical Services at Spire Healthcare comments: “Giving women control over their breast screening programmes is an important move, and something we believe strongly in. We are delighted to be working with BreastHealth UK to offer women the widest choice of high quality screening, in our centres across the country.”

About BreastHealth UK

BreastHealth UK helps to ensure that breast cancer is identified early and an appropriate individual treatment pathway implemented. To achieve this BHUK works with leading breast surgeons, radiologists, genetic counsellors and other breast specialists across UK.

About Spire Healthcare

Spire Healthcare is the second largest private hospital provider in the UK with 36 hospitals and a total of 1,983 beds. Spire Healthcare treats 930,000 patients a year, employs 7,600 staff and works with over 3,000 medical consultants.