- The corporate head of Breast Area, Dr. Julia Camps, highlights that the group's centers are a reference in screening programs for the early detection of breast cancer in women between 45 or 50 and 69 years old.
- It highlights the accuracy of contrast-enhanced mammography for the detection of malignant tumors, the speed of the procedure and the absence of waiting lists. “Its sensitivity is almost the same as that of MRI,” he explains.
The hospitals of the health group Ribera They perform more than 9.000 mammograms and tomosynthesis per year and more than 2.000 contrast-enhanced mammograms (CEM).
Yesterday was commemorated World Breast Cancer Day, and in this context, the health centers of the Ribera group are positioned as a reference in screening programs for the early detection of breast cancer in women between 45-50 and 69 years, depending on each autonomous community, especially the university hospitals of Vinalopo y Torrejon, the Denia Hospital and the hospitals Ribera Povisa (Vigo), Ribera Polusa (Lugo) and Ribera Hospital of Molina (Murcia). All this thanks to the most innovative technology and procedures and a team of super-specialized professionals, with experience and international prestige. These hospitals are integrated or in the process of integration into the Area of the Mama of the Ribera group, led by Dr. Julia Camps, and the plan is to continue progressively incorporating the rest of the group's hospitals into this transversal and multidisciplinary organization, an example of inter-center coordination.
“All diagnostic mammograms are performed using synthesized imaging and tomosynthesis,” as explained by Dr. Camps, who highlights that “it has been shown that contrast mammographyIt is more sensitive than conventional mammography or ultrasound for the detection of malignant tumors. Its sensitivity is almost the same as that of MRI.” The head of the Ribera Breast Area explains the advantages of mammography with contrast, especially for patients who, due to medical contraindications, cannot have an MRI.
“Performing an MRI is especially relevant in patients with a recent diagnosis of breast cancer to see its extension, also for the assessment of the response to chemotherapy, in patients with a personal history of breast cancer and in patients with positive results. "equivocals in conventional tests," explains Dr. Camps, who adds that "if in these patients there is no possibility of doing an MRI, a mammography with contrast is of great value because it detects tumor angiogenesis."
Experience, agility and no waiting lists
The experience of the Ribera group hospitals with contrast mammography is notable, especially in the university hospitals of Vinalopó and Torrejón and in Ribera Povisa. “At the Vinalopó Hospital we have been using Hologic tomosynthesis and the CEM system since February 2020 and since then we have performed more than 3.100 examinations of this type, the majority for the follow-up of cancer patients,” explains the corporate head of the Health Area. Mother. At the Torrejón Hospital, for its part, the experience is previous: Hologic and CEM tomosynthesis has been used since September 2019. “From then until January 2023 we have performed 2.600 CEM procedures, again mostly for patient follow-up. with breast cancer,” he says.
Dr. Camps highlights that in the Torrejón and Vinalopó hospitals, “the follow-up of patients with a history of breast cancer is carried out with mammography with contrast, something unique in Europe and the results of this follow-up will be published shortly, although we can advance "We are finding second cancers not visible on mammography, sizes less than 1 centimeter, thanks to the technology we use and this monitoring, and we know that this will favorably impact the prognosis of these patients," he explains. At the Ribera Povisa hospital, she adds, “we have had a mammography with contrast and tomosynthesis since February 2023 that can also perform biopsies guided by mammography with contrast, something very rare in Spain.” And in Ribera Polusa (Lugo), she adds, “we have the only mammograph with tomosynthesis in the entire area.”
For Dr. Camps, mammography with contrast “gives us the possibility of avoiding unnecessary biopsies, especially in suspicious lesions such as architectural distortions, asymmetric densities and nodules that are not clear, as well as pseudonodules; That is why it is especially useful in patients referred from the population screening environment, avoiding follow-up exams and biopsies that are not really necessary." In general, she adds, “it's easier to schedule an exam with contrast-enhanced mammography than an MRI.” In fact, she adds, “we perform an average of 16 mammography procedures with contrast per week in each of the two hospitals where the CEM technique is most widely implemented, and that makes waiting times practically non-existent.” “The time required to perform the entire CEM procedure, including intravenous access, is about 15 minutes, which is shorter than that required for MRI.”
