News
Beebe Medical Center Offers Resources for Breast Cancer Awareness
10/13/03
Beebe Medical Center’s Tunnell Cancer Center Emphasizes Early Detection
During Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Dedicated Women’s Imaging Center Open at New Beebe Health Campus
Beebe Medical Center’s Tunnell Cancer Center joins the American Cancer Society in advocating breast self-exam and mammography as the best measures for early detection of breast cancer. During 2003, an estimated 211,300 new cases of breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society, and nearly 40,000 women will die from the disease. One percent of breast cancers develop in men, approximately 150-200 a year.
“Breast cancer is most treatable when it is detected early, and recent statistics show that death from breast cancer is declining due to early detection and better treatments,” explains Dr. Srihari Peri, Medical Director of the Tunnell Cancer Center. “Our hope at the Tunnell Cancer Center is that all women, beginning in their 20s, will become aware of breast changes through monthly breast self-exams, feel comfortable discussing any changes with their physicians as soon as possible, and continue seeing their physicians annually.”
The American Cancer Society changed its screening guidelines this year to include more advice on the benefits and limitations of screening methods for women of all ages and those with higher risk factors, and to reinforce the benefit of mammography as the best method of detection. A woman’s first mammogram should be at age 40.
"With all of the new technology available in medicine today, we still consider mammography to be the best way to detect breast cancer," Dr. Peri explains. "We use screening mammography to attempt to find any evidence of breast cancer in women without symptoms. We perform diagnostic mammography if a woman has symptoms of breast cancer, such as a lump that can be felt in her breast."
Papers were presented at the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting about screening for breast cancer. Recommendations by the panel are that the mammogram is still the best screening test, and that MRI be used for patients with high risk of developing breast cancer.
Patients can schedule screening and diagnostic mammography through a centralized number: 645-FAST. Beebe offers mammography in all of its locations:
Screening Mammography:
Millville - Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Millsboro - Monday - Friday
Georgetown - Monday - Friday
Screening and Diagnostic Mammography:
Beebe Medical Center - Monday - Friday
Beebe Health Campus - Monday-Friday
Beebe’s new facility, the Outpatient Care Center at the Beebe Health Campus on Route 24, features a Women's Imaging Center designed especially for women. The Center includes a private women’s waiting room, made possible through a $500,000 donation from the Beebe Medical Center Women’s Auxiliary. Women can call 645-FAST to schedule screening and diagnostic mammography, ultrasound, and bone densitometry Monday - Friday at this location.
The Tunnell Cancer Center also dedicated the Joan Fund Recovery and Education Center in 2003. The Center was made possible through generous donations from the Jean and Joan Fund and provides information on the range of physical and emotional recovery services Beebe makes available to cancer patients and their family members. Image recovery is a key goal of the education center, including wig and prosthesis fitting, lymphedema products, information on medications and chemotherapy, as well as information on support groups and outreach services. For more information, please call the Tunnell Cancer Center at 645-3770.
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