The Ministry of Health will replace the mobile mammography unit at the end of this year Navarre Breast Cancer Early Detection Program (PDPCM) for a new one, currently under construction.
With this investment of 304,000 euros, the objective is to improve the comfort of more than 20,000 women who access this service every year, by offering them a space more adapted to current needs, as well as to the comfort of health professionals who use it daily, underlines the Department on the occasion of World Breast Cancer Daywhich is commemorated on October 19.
75% of the 218 breast cancers diagnosed last year as part of the screening program were at an early stage (0 and I); “good data which reflects that the objective has been achieved, which is early detection for a better prognosis of cases”, they say from Early Detection Section of the Institute of Public and Occupational Health of Navarra (ISPLN)who is responsible for the development, coordination, evaluation and monitoring of the entire program.
The PDPCM, launched in 1990, completed its 16th cycle last February and began its 17th cycle in March, which will end in March 2026 after inviting more than 128,000 women registered in the Foral Community aged 45 to 69 to have a mammogram.
Women born in 1978, 1979 and 1980 join the program
In the current cycle, they included three cohorts of new womeninstead of the two usually constituted, so that the target population is all people born between January 1, 1954 and December 31, 1980.
Some 128,717 Navarrese, according to NaStatwho throughout these two years will receive a personal letter at their home indicating the day and time reserved for them to carry out the mammographic examination, explains the Early Detection section of the ISPLN.
To this end, since November last year they have had three new digital mammography machines, equipped with tomosynthesis, a technology that not only improves the detection of breast cancer, but also avoids, in a significant number of cases, the referral of women for further assessment, thereby reducing the potential adverse effects of screening, such as anxiety, unnecessary radiation and inadequate care overload, among others.
Latest program results
In 2023, explorations of female residents in the areas of Barañáin, Berriozar, Buñuel, Cascante, Cintruénigo, Corella, Estella-Villatuerta-Amescoa, Huarte, Mendillorri, Noáin, Orkoien, Tudela, Valtierra, Villava and the postal codes of Pamplona 31008, 31011, 31012, 31014 and 31016 In total, 19 areas were visited, including 294 municipalities.
Specifically, last year we invited 48,216 womencarrying out 38,110 screening examinations and 55 adaptation to a new area of residence. 1,122 mid-term reviews were also carried out.
It was necessary to realize additional examinations (new screenings and/or ultrasounds) to 2,766 women, of whom 335 required referral to hospital units for diagnostic evaluation and further treatment, if necessary.
So, 218 cancers were detected: 35 intraductal (16%), 128 in stage I (58.7%), 43 in stage II (19.7%), 10 in stage III (4.5%) and a single case in stage IV. In addition, 82% of invasive tumors did not present lymph node invasion at the time of diagnosis. Likewise, among all breast cancers diagnosed in women between 45 and 69 years old in Navarra, 85% were carried out within the early detection program.
As for round 17, whose data is still very initialSince last March and until September 30, 24,885 screening examinations have been carried out (14,246 in fixed unit and 10,639 in mobile unit) and 710 intermediate examinations (456 in fixed unit and 254 in mobile unit). 891 additional examinations were also carried out and 135 women were sent to hospital units for evaluation.
THE Early detection section He emphasizes that it was possible to recover part of the delay that occurred at the end of round 16 and believes that at the end of the current round it will have been fully recovered.
452 new cases in 2023 and the mortality rate decreases by 21% in two decades
He Breast cancer is most common among women in Navarreafter skin cancer. The absolute number of cases increased significantly (16.5%) between 2013 and 2023, from 388 to 452, according to estimates from the Cancer Registry of the Institute of Public and Professional Health of Navarre.
15% of tumors diagnosed in younger women 45 years old, 57% among women between 45 and 69 years old and 28% among women over 69 years old.
The evolution of the adjusted rates, which take into account the growth of the resident population of Navarre and its aging, indicates a increased risk of breast cancer 4% over the last decade. However, this increase in incidence has also been documented in Spain and Europe during the same period.
Regarding deaths, Mortality registry data They highlight that the average number of deaths from breast cancer was 84 per year during the period 2020-2022, representing 2.7% of total deaths among women. The annual mortality rate from this cancer has decreased by 21.2% over the past two decades, from 25.7 deaths per 100,000 women in 2000-2004 to 20.3 per 100,000 in 2020-2022.
Stability of the activity of the HUN Oncology Department
Concerning health activity, the Oncology Department of the University Hospital of Navarre (HUN) Between January and September of this year, 338 people were received for a first consultation, a figure practically similar to that recorded during the same period of 2023 (348). Likewise, 517 breast cancer patients were treated at HUN (there were 518 last year) and 54 at the Reina Sofía Hospital in Tudela (there were 52 in 2023).
Concerning the staff, there is 10 internal doctors residents trained in the service, one more than in 2023, and since October 1, the Tudela hospital has had one more oncologist, who shares his activity with the HUN.
Inside diagnosis and treatment of breast cancerIn addition to the Oncology department, professionals from Surgery, Radiotherapy, Pathological Anatomy, Radiology, Plastic Surgery, Rehabilitation… Joint multidisciplinary work which makes it possible to assess the survival of patients 5 years after diagnosis, according to the latest data from the Register of cancer in Navarre, approximately 87%.
