Surgical
Royal college to launch new breast cancer training programme
By Ashwin, UK Correspondent
Nov 3, 2004, 08:46

Following the success of major clinical trials around the world, and a UK trial involving over 1000 breast cancer patients, The Royal College of Surgeons is to launch a new training programme, in partnership with Cardiff University, for surgical teams in sentinel node biopsy (SNB) - a minimally invasive procedure which forms part of the treatment for breast cancer.

Current treatment of women who present with a breast lump includes removal of the lump and the extraction of between six and twenty lymph nodes from the armpit to see whether the cancer has spread. SNB involves the removal of only one lymph node (the sentinel node) localised with a combination of dye and a small dose of radiation.

SNB is expected to become the new standard of care for breast cancer. It has a morbidity rate of 5% compared to 85% with standard treatment, reduces the risk of infection, and reduces the patient�s hospital stay from about five days to three.

UK breast surgeons want patients to benefit form a reduced need for armpit surgery as quickly as possible. However, it is important to do this safely.

The �New Start� training programme has been jointly devised by The Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Department of Surgery at Cardiff University, and is supported by the Department of Health and the National Assembly for Wales.

The UK trials in the new methodology were led by Professor Robert Mansel from the University of Cardiff.

�The latest results of the UK �Almanac� trial � to be presented in the USA in December � show that the new procedure can accurately determine whether cancer has spread to lymph nodes, and reduces the side-effects of breast surgery in around 60% of women with breast cancer,� said Professor Mansel. �The procedure gives much lower rates of arm swelling and numbness compared with current treatments. The �New Start� training programme aims to bring the benefits of this new procedure rapidly to women throughout England and Wales by training all surgeons to perform the technique to a high standard.�

Professor Mansel will launch the new training programme at a seminar at the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) on 28 October. He will explain the new procedure using videos, and describe the benefits of the new procedure. The patient perspective will also be presented. Fiona MacNeill, the College�s breast cancer campaign tutor, will then explain how the College plans to deliver the training programme in hospitals across England and Wales.

The seminar will be attended by RCS tutors, and members of organisations representing radiologists, pathologists, breast care nurses and theatre nurses, who will form the multi-disciplinary surgical teams.

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