MUSCAT — In a great achievement, the National Association for Cancer Awareness (NACA) announced the launch of a Mobile Mammography Unit (MMU) to help fight against cancer at the association’s premises yesterday. The MMU, the first of its kind in the Sultanate, is a sophisticated unit comprising one of the most advanced digital mammography for clinical breast examination and a reception room to register a brief medical history before the mammogram is taken.

The unit is also accessible to women with special needs to — facilitate NACA’s aim to reach every woman. “This digital mammography machine is considered one of the best tools in early detection of breast cancer with a higher detection rate in women under 50, pre- and peri-menopausal women and women with dense breast tissue. “Another advantage of the unit is that it reduces the need for recalls and additional pictures, thereby reducing patient anxiety and stress, said Dr Wahid al Kharusi, Committee Board Member, NACA.

The unit will take NACA’s care on road to serve women who otherwise might not have access to breast cancer screening and cancer education once it is linked to the 3.5G Mobile Network Satellite to enable the images to be saved on the association’s server. Results will be held with confidentiality similar to the services provided at a fixed-site centre besides having records archived for 10 years, he said.

The MMU will exclusively be managed by a team of registered female radiologist technicians with advanced training in the discipline of mammography. Besides, women will be given a CD of the images to keep as a reference. Before leaving they will have an opportunity to ask questions and receive information about how the results will be communicated to them and their physicians.

Women will also be informed of the results of the tests within 24-48 hours of the examination, said the official. ‘The images will be transmitted to NACA’s server where they will be read by specialised radiologists. If lesions are suspected, the images will be transmitted directly to our oncology centres at the Royal and Khoula Hospitals of the Ministry of Health, as well as the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital where further analysis will be conducted to decide the scope of treatment”.

However, if the results are abnormal the woman will be contacted by a staff of NACA’s Breast Centre to discuss follow-up procedures. If results are normal with no signs of abnormality, women will still be notified of their next mammogram, noted Al Kharusi. The programme is recommended for women from 40 years of age and above and specifically targets women who fit the protocol laid out by Oman’s highly specialised oncologists. But, women below 40 with a palpable breast lump will be considered for mammography according to the mentioned protocols”.

The MMU is custom built in Oman and its services will be offered free of cost to all residents of the Sultanate including Omanis and expatriates. To start with, the unit will be within or near designated health centres in Muscat Governorate for a period of six months before it moves to other regions of the country. A schedule of the unit’s location will be posted on NACA’s website and the public will be informed accordingly, added Yuthar bint Mohammad al Rawahiya, Head of NACA.

The unit is designed to travel on the Sultanate’s roads specifically to provide women access to mammography screening and to raise awareness in communities across the country about cancer and the life saving importance of regular check-ups and early diagnosis. Although it is not mandatory to fix an appointment, however, it is preferable if the association is notified in advance, she remarked.

The launch of the unit will play a significant role in early detection of cancer especially as one third of all cancers, if detected early, can be effectively treated. With breast cancer, eight out of ten lumps are not cancerous, and more than 90 per cent of people who are diagnosed early with breast cancer are alive with an extension of five years or more. But early detection means that the disease must be detected before it becomes obvious and this is only possible through screening.

The MMU has been funded with the generosity of the private sector, individual philanthropists across the community, and the support of relevant government organisations. “Now that the mobile unit has come into fruition, the association plans to focus on another type of cancer that afflicts the children in the community. The initiative will be a home away from home for cancer patients under active care and to save those residing a distance away from the care site an arduous long journey home and the expenses of a hotel accommodation”, she announced.

By Maryam Khalfan

© Oman Daily Observer 2009

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