BACKGROUNDER
January 23, 2009
SUPPORT FOR NEW BREAST IMAGING TECHNOLOGY COMING TO ONTARIO
“At GE Healthcare, we are dedicated to early detection, and developing technologies to better manage breast disease. We are thrilled with the possibility of bringing to Ontario and to the CPDC a new breast imaging technology platform, the first of its kind, to be utilized as part of their clinical study."
Peter Robertson, General Manager, GE Healthcare Canada
“The molecular breast imaging project is great news for Hamilton, Ontario and Canada. Being the world's first site to receive these GE Healthcare technologies speaks to the expertise of our clinicians and researchers. It also symbolizes the power of what can be achieved through collaboration between clinical, research, industry and government partners in the interest of advancing knowledge to improve patient care.”
Murray Martin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hamilton Health Sciences
"These new technologies provide us with a novel method for potentially detecting malignant breast lesions that are difficult to find and for measuring response of breast cancers to therapies such as chemotherapy. This initiative will benefit from Ontario Clinical Oncology Group's expertise in clinical trial design and conduct, and the track record of the breast cancer disease site group of the Juravinski Cancer Centre. Most importantly, this project will result in new knowledge and the hope for a brighter tomorrow."
Dr. Mark Levine, Chair of Department of Oncology at McMaster University, and head of cancer research at Hamilton Health Sciences
“Hamilton continues to lead the way in nuclear medicine research with the goal of enhancing patient care. Today's announcement will give us the opportunity to study technologies which may help detect breast tumours sooner so that we can improve the care of individuals with breast cancer. The physicians and technologists of the Department of Nuclear Medicine are excited to work with our research and health care colleagues to evaluate this new imaging tool.”
Dr. Karen Gulenchyn, Chief, Nuclear Medicine, Hamilton Health Sciences & St. Joseph's Health Care Hamilton
“As my family has been directly impacted by cancer, I am personally pleased that McMaster University and our partners are taking such an important global initiative in breast cancer research. Our collaboration with the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, the new Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization, our hospital partner Hamilton Health Sciences, GE Healthcare and the Government of Ontario holds much promise for early diagnosis and better outcomes.”
Dr. Peter George, President and Vice-Chancellor, McMaster University
“One of the global challenges in cancer is that it is diagnosed late in the disease process, leading to a poorer outcome than when the tumour is small. Our goal is to be able to detect a tumour when it can be removed at an early stage. We are supporting the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization, which is working on new radiopharmaceutical probes to diagnose breast cancer. We are funding this new imaging project, which uses the CPDC’s probes, because the technologies may have a significant impact on care. We hope that it will offer patients with tumours too small to be seen by mammography, long-term cancer-free survival.”
Dr. Tom Hudson, President and Scientific Director, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
See also:
- News Release: Ontario Leading Fight Against Breast Cancer
- Backgrounder: Global Leadership In The Fight Against Breast Cancer
- For the Media: B-roll of cancer research happening at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR)
