Cambridge Breast Clinic at MITERA Hospital: A new partnership between MITERA Hospital and the University Hospitals of Cambridge
The Cambridge Breast Clinic at MITERA Hospital was established to deliver the highest quality scientific knowledge and clinical excellence. In this attempt MITERA has the exclusive cooperation of upmost breast surgeons of the University Hospitals of Cambridge.
The new Clinic was officially inaugurated at a ceremony held at the British Embassy in Athens, on Wednesday, October 13th, 2010. Baroness Harris of Richmond, the Deputy Speaker in the Lords, attended the ceremony together with many representatives from the Academic and Diplomatic Community and from organisations that fight against breast cancer.
Baroness Harris, who visited Greece for the first time, expressed her deep satisfaction as regards the cooperation between Cambridge Breast Clinic and MITERA Hospital giving special emphasis on the fact that a team of upmost specialists from Cambridge have ensured that all latest developments will be available for women in Greece. As Baroness Harris stated, “There is a strong cooperation between Great Britain and Greece and this can be further ascertained by the fact that the opening ceremony of these joint efforts took place at the British Embassy in Athens. I personally feel very honoured by these efforts and hope that women of Athens and Greece in general will be benefited”.
The Managing Director of MITERA, Mr. Alexios Komninos, stated that “The Cambridge Breast Clinic at MITERA provides an integrated approach to the treatment of all breast diseases. For that reason, we adopted the “one-stop clinic” approach: diagnosis and treatment in just one visit. We also built a scientific team of six Medical specialties (Breast Surgeon, Ultrasound specialist, Pathologist, Plastic Surgeon, Pathologist – Oncologist, Radiotherapist) and obtained the exclusive cooperation of upmost breast surgeons of the University Hospitals of Cambridge. Moreover, we formed the first team of five specialized breast care nurses in Greece having completed their course in Cambridge. The Clinic’s role and innovative character has been widely recognized during the first three months of its operation. The Clinic has treated over 50 cases and 10 surgeries have been performed”.
The Director of the CBC at MITERA, Prof. Gordon Wishart, added that “It has been officially proven that patients treated by surgeons specialized in breast cancer have best survival rates (more than 20%) and lower relapse rates (about 47%). The one-stop clinic approach (breast examination, breast imaging or mammography and biopsy, if needed) ensures diagnostic accuracy of about 100%. Moreover, the adoption of new medical protocols and models do provide the appropriate treatment pathway for Greek women”.
Prof. Wishart gave particular reference to the TYPER CUZICK algorithm that was developed to assess the prospective risk of breast cancer in unaffected women by personalizing her testing scheme for cancer prevention taking into account her individual needs and family history. Prof. Wishart also referred to the PREDICT computer model that estimates breast cancer survival and the potential benefits of treatment following breast cancer surgery.