Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and as many of you working in the health profession already know, providing access to screening for each and every woman is absolutely critical in the role of breast cancer survival and support.

Early detection is the most important tool we have for the successful treatment of breast cancer. And according to Cancer Research UK, when breast cancer is detected early, in stage one, the 5-year relative survival rate is 95%.

Early detection includes doing monthly breast self-exams, and scheduling regular clinical breast exams and mammograms.

With more than 2 million women in the UK attending mammography screening appointments, and

about eight cancer cases for every 1,000 women tested being detected, feeling confident in reading such complex and difficult breast imaging sequences is imperative for Radiologists.

This year we would like to promote a free resource to review cases for Radiologists everywhere. PERFORMS is an award-winning program funded by the NHS Breast Screening programme and implemented nationally by Public Health England in 2015, is mandated for every UK practitioner and endorsed as CPD by the Royal College of Radiologists.

The free resource provides more than 30 years of research and helps identify the key mammographic features that radiologists need to identify to determine the presence of cancer.

JCA Medical Seminars is also here to support Radiographers and Radiologists build on their experience with our expert-led, CPD-accredited breast training courses. We are delighted to offer our respected, in-depth and comprehensive, Breast Imaging Course on-demand. Suitable for both Radiologists and advanced Radiographers, this important imaging update provides cases showing the benefits of CESM in detecting cancer, and a look to the future and what AI will support practitioners to deal with the increasing demand for screening and diagnosis. Gain 12 CPD points and hear from a range of speakers, with additional seminars covering Screening, Breast MRI Implants, Lobular Cancer MRI, Breast Biopsy, and more. BREAST CANCER SUPPORT & RESOURCES

For support and advice on reducing your risk of Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer UK provides a really helpful prevention quiz which is encouraged to share with friends and family. Breast Cancer Now also offer a huge range of support, from Signs and symptoms of breast cancer to what treatment you might expect. With nurses on hand to speak to anyone going through breast cancer and events to support patients and families, they offer a critical resource to those of us in the UK. Find out more here: https://breastcancernow.org/

In addition to a huge number of fundraising events throughout the year, in the UK, we also have Wear it Pink day on 21st October. The day is a reminder that around 55,000 women and 370 men in the UK will hear the words ‘it’s breast cancer’ and around 11,500 women and 80 men will die from it. Wearing pink encourages everyone to be reminded of the impact of Breast Cancer and the part we can all play to fundraise for essential research to make a difference for all.