The team of evaluators, composed among others by an English surgeon and a Danish radiologist, has promoted the breast center directed by Dr. Katia Cagossipositively highlighting some aspects of the diagnostic-therapeutic pathway offered to cancer patients, with the multidisciplinary approach the basis of the excellent results obtained.
Among the most popular data, thehigh level of care provided and the 93.5% 5-year survival rate, higher than the regional (89%) and national (88%). “The excellent leadership and the motivation and dedication of the whole team”, the important process of improvement of the nursing component, a fundamental pivot for patient care, and the involvement of the Radiology Department in maintaining the high competence of professionals and the quality of the instrumentation, are the other reasons, indicated in the final report, which led to the passing of the verification.
Particular mention for the surgical partwhich received a very positive evaluation as regards the surgical techniques, of which the excellent cosmetic results and the integration with plastic surgery were highlighted, with 192 surgeries for the treatment of breast cancer performed in 2022 by the breast surgery team, an integral part of Ramazzini’s Complex Structure of Surgery.
Again in the year that has just ended, there have been took charge of 211 new patients at all stages of the disease. Beyond 100 patients with metastatic disease in charge at the Breast Unit, for most of which discussions at a multidisciplinary level for decisions on the treatment process have been initiated. In some cases it was possible to resort to biological therapies that were effective and compatible with a good quality of life.
“The maintenance of this prestigious result – emphasizes Dr. Cagossi –, without major “non-conformities” and with appreciations along the way, it was possible thanks to a long and demanding teamwork which, with a view to an interdisciplinary approach, involves professionals with different skills such as radiologist, pathologist, surgeon breast specialist, plastic surgeon, oncologist, nuclear doctor, radiotherapist, radiology and radiotherapy technician, physiatrist, physiotherapist, psychologist, two case managers, geriatrician, data manager and geneticist. Some of the services mentioned, such as radiotherapy, plastic surgery and pathological anatomy, belong to the University Hospital of Modena: the excellent result is the confirmation of the active and fruitful collaboration that has existed for some time between the Modena companies. In the Breast Unit the patient is at the center of the treatment process and is managed by a multidisciplinary team, which discusses the cases, collectively evaluates the laboratory reports, and last but not least takes care of the aspects related to the functional and family component, integrated by presence of the psychologist.
After the first assignment of the EUSOMA certification in 2019, the Ausl Breast Unit – among the 21 breast centers in Italy in possession of the title – has always passed the annual checks with stringent monitoring of procedures, services and professional skills, obtaining, last year, the renewal of the certification.