http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id=AF78ECA1-F89B-45 36-B9BE-801C882501CE Canada's head radiologist frustrated 'Waiting lists cheaper' than MammoSite RTS. But, he says, breast-cancer treatment is effective method that is better for patients MIKE KING, The Gazette, Friday, November 07, 2003 Provincial governments aren't likely to embrace a new method, being used in Montreal, that could drastically reduce radiotherapy waiting times for breast cancer patients, the head of the country's radiologists suggested yesterday. "It's cheaper to have waiting lists," Normand Laberge, CEO of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, told The Gazette. Laberge said the MammoSite Radiation Therapy System, currently available in Canada only through the Ville Marie Oncology Centre, "is indeed a very effective method that is better for the patients." It could slash the existing waiting time for traditional radiotherapy, which can be as long as six months. In addition to reducing patient waiting time, Laberge said, it would also "free up physicians and technologists." But from a hospital-manager and health minister perspective, Laberge said, the MammoSite RTS and other existing brachytherapy treatments "are cost-attractive, not cost-effective." While using those treatments would greatly ease waiting times for patients, it would also cost the health-care system more because the equipment would be used more. "As an association, we see it more as a political debate than a medical debate," Laberge said. He called it frustrating that technology exists that has fewer side effects for patients, is less painful for them and reduces their down time, yet isn't being made readily available through the public health system. Repeated calls to Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard's office this week about the MammoSite RTS went unreturned. Dr. Frank Vicini of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., published a study in 2002 suggesting that - five years after treatment - women undergoing brachytherapy do as well as women who got external radiation. Rose Alper, past-president of Breast Cancer Action Montreal, said her advocacy group is "very interested to know what the long-term effects will be" of using MammoSite RTS. "And the price is a factor, of course," she added. "It's unfortunate the price is so high, because it makes it out of reach for many women." Since medicare doesn't cover the approximately $2,500 U.S. cost of the MammoSite kit, the Ville Marie Oncology Foundation is picking up the tab for now. The foundation, independent of the Ville Marie Oncology Centre, is funding further research into the use of brachytherapy for future breast-cancer patients and fostering Quebec-based expertise and acquisition of the appropriate equipment to carry out that type of treatment. To contact the Ville Marie Oncology Foundation, send e-mail to info@vmof.org or phone (514) 933-8951. mking@thegazette.canwest.com To Be Eligible for Mammosite RTS Therapy Eligible women: must be 45 years or older should not be pregnant or breast-feeding should not have collagen-vascular disease Also: Their cancerous tumour must be 2 centimetres or smaller There should be no regional lymph nodes There should be no distant metastases These are the main criteria for eligibility. For more information, please contact (514) 933-2778 Source: ville marie oncology centre
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