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Saving Lives South of the Border

Selenia Digital Mammography Offers Great Improvements for Early Detection in Mexico

Dr. Beatriz Gonzalez Ulloa, President of the Mexican Board of Radiology and Director of the Department of Radiology at the Hospital de Especialidades del Centro Medico Nacional de Occidente del IMSS in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, has dedicated her professional career to improving breast cancer survival rates, through earlier detection and better intervention.

Her drive and dedication is more than professional, it also has deep personal roots.

“When I obtained the degree in my specialty…and I began to read mammograms and prepare reports… members of both my paternal and maternal sides of the family got breast cancer. That’s when I developed this passion,” Gonzalez explains. “I had to become better at detecting breast cancer, to detect it earlier; to improve the quality of life of my patients; to save their lives.”

Early Detection Is the Key

Over time, Dr. Gonzalez has become concerned that breast cancer is affecting more women and at a younger age in Mexico. “In Mexico, the health problem is real,” she says. “More young women in Mexico are contracting and dying of breast cancer.“ Recently, a number of like minded health organizations have requested that more studies are done on the correlation of breast cancer and this population.

Dr. Gonzalez believes one of the most important steps in reducing the mortality rates for breast cancer is to increase public awareness of the need for regular mammograms.

“We must direct our efforts to have women enter into detection programs and undergo regular mammograms,” says Gonzalez. She recommends that women begin regular screenings at an earlier age, and that these screenings be performed more frequently. “Unlike other countries, where screenings begin at a later age, we want all our patients to have their first baseline mammogram at 35. For patients at high risk or patients with particular characteristics, we want to perform screenings every year, instead of once every two years, which is common in other countries.”

Improving Technology, Improving Detection

As Dr. Gonzalez sees it, improving detection rates means giving her patients access to the best technology available. For the Hospital de Especialidades, the first and most important step to improving early detection was the decision to install a Selenia digital mammography system from Hologic. “Thanks to new technology, such as the Hologic Selenia system, we are now able to detect even the smallest cancer – something we couldn’t detect before. We are also able to detect even the smallest lesions. This allows our patients to obtain a more effective treatment earlier.”

At the Hospital de Especialidades, Dr. Gonzalez notes that they used to see a high percentage of breast cancers being caught in the late stages. Since the installation of the Selenia unit, this percentage has decreased dramatically. “We are now able to better see the calcifications and nodules, and to detect multicentric or multifocal lesions in dense breasts more easily than with the analog unit,” she says.