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The Irene and Leslie Dubé Centre of Care is the Breast Health Centre serving central and northern Saskatchewan. The centre, located in Saskatoon, is the result of very hard work and ongoing fundraising by the City Hospital Foundation, hundreds of individual groups, businesses, and communities throughout Saskatchewan.
About the Irene and Leslie Dubé Centre of Care
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About the Irene and Leslie Dubé Centre of Care
Due to the generosity of so many individuals, topped by the very large contribution from the Dubé family, the vision of a dedicated breast assessment centre has become a reality. In March 2006 we were able to celebrate its grand opening. It is staffed and operated by Saskatoon Health Region.
Why a dedicated Breast Centre?
Most of us know someone who has been affected by breast cancer. With statistics showing us 1 in 9 women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lifetime, we know the number of people requiring the services are significant. Finding a lump or receiving the news of an abnormal mammogram can be a stressful experience for patients and their families.
Many times with additional imaging, either by magnification views, coned compression views, or ultrasound, these abnormalities can be ruled out as benign findings, and require no further investigation. If, however, the abnormality still carries the possibility of something more worrisome, the radiologist would rate the level of suspicion and make a recommendation to the physician such as follow-up imaging (for example in 3 months or 6 months), a clinical exam, a surgical referral or a core biopsy.
To be careful not to duplicate already existing services, nor overburden any one facility (creating waiting lists), the health region decided the best role for the centre was to handle only those breast abnormalities that have been assessed and are still suspicious for breast cancer.
What services are provided at the Breast Centre?
The majority of the procedures performed at the Centre of Care are core needle biopsies. By doing a core biopsy, we are able to obtain tissue samples of a lesion in a relatively easy manner. This has had the biggest impact on the management of suspicious breast lesions. In the past, the only way to obtain a pathologic diagnosis was to have surgery - now many women can avoid surgery if the abnormality is shown to be benign (non cancerous).
Core biopsies also give the surgeons valuable information so they can plan the surgery and treatment that is best for you if the diagnosis is malignant (cancer).
Women who are going for breast surgery for lesions that are non palpable are scheduled to the breast centre for wire localization. The wire is used to direct the surgeon to the abnormality that can only be visualized by ultrasound or mammography.
Galactography is another procedure performed at the breast centre. This is done on women presenting with a bloody or clear nipple discharge. It involves injecting dye into the discharging duct to identify the cause of the discharge.
Our mission
Our goal is to make this breast centre one that can offer the people of Saskatchewan the best up to date standard of care in breast health. It involved a great deal of planning as well as research on other centres throughout North America. Therefore, not to be left behind, we are fortunate to have state of the art equipment which includes a prone stereotactic biopsy table as well as an upright stereotactic biopsy unit (for those unable to lie on their stomach).
We have a digital mammography unit with dedicated high resolution monitors for better detection. Our new ultrasound unit is a 17 MHz which gives very detailed information on superficial tissue (breast tissue). We have purchased a new camera for nuclear medicine to help map sentinel nodes, detect spread of cancer to the bones and measure heart function for those receiving chemotherapy. With the new MRI we will see an increased usage of this diagnostic tool in the management of breast health.
We have a dedicated health care team that is specialized in breast imaging. We have limited our number of radiologists and technologists working at the Centre of Care so that their level of expertise is at its best.
Working in Partnership
Because digital mammography is proven to increase detection of breast cancer in dense breast tissue, we are working in partnership with the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency by providing digital mammography to women who meet the criteria. Referral for a digital mammogram is through the Screening Program for Breast Cancer.
We are working in partnership with the Health Quality Council as we establish the direction we need to go to further improve breast care within our province.
How can you be referred to the Breast Centre?
- Digital mammography is through the Screening Program for Breast Cancer.
- All other procedures are by physician referral and must meet certain criteria.
Donations
To make a donation to the breast centre please contact: Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation office at 306-655-8489.
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