Breast cancer: Global quality care

Developing or existing breast cancer centres strive to provide the highest quality care possible within their current financial and personnel resources. Although the basics in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer are well known, providing, monitoring, and assessing the care offered can be challenging for most sites.

Based on the work of the International Congress of Breast Disease Centres, this book provides a comprehensive overview of how to start or improve a breast unit wherever you live. Written by a multidisciplinary team of over 100 experts from 25 countries, it provides a practical guide for how to optimally organise high quality integrated breast cancer care, whilst taking into account the local economics and resources available to different countries.

Each component of the care pathway, including imaging, surgery, systemic treatment, nursing, and genetic assessment, is discussed from a theoretical and practical aspect. The authors define targets to strive for, methods to assess care, and key recommendations for how to improve within existing limitations. Finally, the book looks beyond the breast care unit to consider accreditation and certification, emerging technologies, media, and the role of governments.

This guide will be valuable for anyone working in the field of integrated breast cancer care, including established breast care experts, those new to the field, and policy makers.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Epidemiology
1: The global burden of malignant breast cancer in women
2: Cancer registries
Part 2: Quality management of breast cancer: accreditation programs and quality control
3: Opportunities and pitfalls of quality management
4: EUSOMA : Pioneering mastology and breast centres networking
5: What defines a breast center?: A NAPBC vision
6: A view on 'Patient-reported outcome measures'
7: Examples of national programs on quality management
8: Educational and training harmonisation in breast care
Part 3: The guidelines
9: The role of guidelines in breast cancer management in different resource settings
Part 4: The multidisciplinary meeting
10: The multidisciplinary meeting: hallmark of multidisciplinary care
Part 5: Quality control of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment
11: Radiology
12: Pathology
13: Surgery
14: Reconstructive surgery, including oncoplastic surgery
15: Radiotherapy
16: Global requirements for systemic therapy
17: Primary care providers (general practitioners): a shared care approach
18: End of life care
19: Nursing clinics, nurse practitioners, and navigators
20: Psycho-oncological care and survivorship
21: Genetics
Part 6: Health information technology (HIT)
22: Improving treatment value using HIT
23: Use of HIT for remote advice
Part 7: Breast cancer research
24: The changing clinical research pathway
25: Global perspective
26: FUTURE: Challenges and Threats
Part 8: The economics of breast cancer care
27: Assessing costs and value for money of breast cancer care
28: The economic impact of breast cancer in the Southeast Asian region
29: Moving from a 'one size fits all' to a personalized strategy
Part 9: Patients, physicians, and the media
30: Patients, physicians, and the media: who controls the message?
31: Medico-legal aspects
Part 10: The role of governments and executives
32: A European perspective
33: Perspectives on the governance and management of breast care in the US
34: Perspective from Latin-America
35: Perspective from India
36: Perspective from South Africa and Subsahara region
37: Optimization of breast cancer management in low and middle income countries
38: Conclusion

Edited by Didier Verhoeven, Head of the Department of Medical Oncology, AZ Klina, Brasschaat, Belgium, Cary Kaufman, Medical Director, Bellingham Regional Breast Center, Bellingham, Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, Robert Mansel, President, European Commission Initiative in Breast Cancer (ECIBC), Emeritus Professor of Surgery, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, and Sabine Siesling, Professor, University of Twente, Enschede, and Senior Researcher, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL), Utrecht, The Netherlands

Didier Verhoeven is Head of the Department of Medical Oncology at AZ Klina, and Chair of the Breast Clinic Voorkempen, in Brasschaat, Belgium, and Guest Professor at the University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.

Cary S. Kaufman is Medical Director at Bellingham Regional Breast Center, Bellingham, and Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Previously he was President of the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), and President of the National Consortium of Breast Centers (NCBC).

Robert Mansel is Chair of the Quality Assurance Committee of the ECIBC, and Professor Emeritus of Surgery at the University of Cardiff School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK. He was formerly President of the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA).

Sabine Siesling is Professor of Outcomes Research and Personalized Cancer Care at the University of Twente, Enschede, and Senior Researcher at the Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL), Utrecht, the Netherlands. She was formerly President of the Netherlands Epidemiology Society, and General Secretary of the International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR).