Making Mammography Available For Every Woman (And Man) In Central Georgia
Just the mention of the word “cancer” strikes fear in anyone who hears it. For women, the words, “breast cancer,” also bring potentially disfiguring surgery followed by sessions of chemotherapy and other infusions. The fear is warranted. According to the American Cancer Society, 290,560 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in female and male patients (yes men get breast cancer, too) in the United States in 2022, with 43,780 deaths. In Georgia there were 9,170 patients diagnosed and 1,410 deaths from breast cancer.
There is good news. While the incidence rate for breast cancer in the population, has been fairly steady since 1990, the death rate from breast cancer has been falling rather dramatically. Why? Better technology and treatment protocols.
However, all the technology — 3-D mammography, infusion strategies, and other treatments are of little good if, mainly women, don’t get screened for the disease. By the time a woman detects a lump in her breast, the disease has already had a head start — and in many cases, women fail to get screened because of cost and other roadblocks. Last month, it was announced that the Pink Promise United initiative has partnered with Atrium Health Navicent and Houston Healthcare.
The initiative serves 15 counties, providing funding for mammography screening and treatment for uninsured and underinsured women and men. Created after the central Georgia chapter of the Susan G. Komen foundation dissolved in 2018, Pink Promise United is strongly supported by the Butler family which owns 14 local automotive dealerships. In addition to the family’s instrumental support, funding is raised through a golf, tennis and bridge tournament which raised between $150,000 and $160,000 last year, according to George McCanless, president and CEO of United Way of Central Georgia
Dr. Paul Dale, an Atrium Health Navicent surgical oncologist, emphasized how important early detection is in the treatment of breast cancer at a December announcement of the partnership. “The ones who are diagnosed with mammography are going to do much better than the ones who come in because they feel a lump. The ones that come in with a lump are the ones that haven’t had a mammogram.” If the cancer is caught early there is an almost 100 percent chance of survival.
Latasha Hill, Breast Imaging service line manager at Atrium Health Navicent Peyton Anderson Cancer Center’s Breast Care Center, said, “We know that a lot of low income and underserved communities face barriers for getting screened for breast cancer. And with mammography being the gold standard in early detection of cancer, it’s going to help so many people in our communities.”
Pink Promise United has screened more than 1,500 women for breast cancer and of those, 88 screenings had an abnormal result. Patients at First Choice Primary Care, Houston County Volunteer Medical Clinic, Macon Volunteer Clinic, Community Health Care Systems and Department of Public Health are automatically screened for eligibility for the program.
“As we started having conversations with the two hospitals, McCanless said, “it became clear that there was a whole group of women that if they didn’t go to Macon Volunteer Clinic or First Choice Primary or some of the other partners that we were using, then they were kind of off the Pink Promise United radar. Now this funding is available for the hospitals to work directly with the women coming there.”
The American College of Radiology (ACR)recommends women have mammograms every year after the age of 40. ACR also recommends women have 3-D mammography, but Hill said, “Some insurers will only pay for 2-D mammography, so we will pick up the difference.” The Breast Center at Atrium Health Navicent offers 3-D mammography that gives physicians the ability to diagnosis breast cancer up to a year earlier than they could using 2-D mammography.
McCanless said, “It is expanding the ability of Pink Promise United to make sure that every woman in Central Georgia, if they need a mammogram, will be able to get them.”
