Home » Health » Analyzing the Comprehensive Care of Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer: Insights from Expert Professionals at Andalusian School of Public Health.

Analyzing the Comprehensive Care of Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer: Insights from Expert Professionals at Andalusian School of Public Health.

The aim of the workshop is to optimize support and care for patients with metastatic breast cancer, both for symptom control and for improving their well-being and quality of life throughout the disease process.

The CuidaMMos workshop for Comprehensive Care of Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer has brought together professionals from family medicine, medical oncology, radiotherapy oncology, oncology nursing, pathology, palliative care, hospital pharmacy, physiotherapy, psycho-oncology, nutrition from the Andalusian Health Service. Health and representatives of the Spanish Association of Metastatic Breast Cancer.

The meeting that has been held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Health and Consumption of the Junta de Andalucía, has had the objective of establishing a joint strategy for the comprehensive care approach of people with metastatic breast cancer, a pathology that presents 5- 6% of new diagnoses of breast cancer and to which progress up to 30% of people with an early diagnosis3.

In ‘CuidaMMos’, the group of experts has not only been able to learn about the needs of patients with metastatic breast cancer and the importance of introducing supportive care from diagnosis, emphasizing the role of oncology nursing, but they have also discussed how to establish a joint strategy between Oncology and the Primary and Palliative Care teams for the implementation of this care.

Dr. Inmaculada Vázquez Cruz, general director of Humanization, Planning, Coordination and Care of the Andalusian Health Service, has pointed out that, despite the advances in the early diagnosis of breast cancer, within the framework of the Breast Cancer Strategy Andalusia, “there are patients who develop a metastatic disease, a situation in which we work on various aspects, such as access to new drugs and techniques, the Precision Medicine Strategy and of course Humanization in health care, with a specific line , which aims to reduce the impact that cancers generate in people, through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach.

For her part, the director of Oncology Access at Daiichi Sankyo Spain, Concha Martínez Cano, also present at the welcome, pointed out that, in addition to professionals, “people with metastatic breast cancer need industry and institutions to join forces to attend your needs in an adequate and precise way at all times. That’s why in the Daiichi Sankyo Alliance | AstraZeneca supports initiatives such as CuidaMMos, which helps everyone to know the reality of where we are starting from and what we can contribute together to build an action plan aligned with the Cancer Strategy in Andalusia”.

Among the speakers was the medical oncologist from the Virgen del Rocío University Hospital and president of the Attitude Against Cancer Foundation, Dr. Ana Casas, who highlighted the “imperative need to seek integrative solutions from the moment of diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer . Treatment is extremely important to prolong survival and improve quality of life, and fortunately in recent years there have been great advances in this regard thanks to molecular diagnosis and targeted therapies, but we must go one step further. Apart from the oncologist, there is a whole range of professionals who must be involved in the care of people with metastatic breast cancer, such as pathology for precise molecular diagnosis, primary care or palliative care. We have to be aware that a multidisciplinary and cohesive team translates into better follow-up and care for patients.

Dr. Manuel José Mejías Estévez, a family doctor in the Seville district and director of the Andalusian Palliative Care Plan, as well as a member of the Technical Committee of the Palliative Care Strategy of the National Health System, also participated as speakers in the workshop. ; Ms. Nieves la Fuente, nurse, director of the Andalusia Care Strategy and coordinator of the Andalusian Plan for Comprehensive Care for people with chronic diseases; Dr. Javier Salvador Bofill, Head of the Medical Oncology Service at the Virgen del Rocio University Hospital.

The scientific coordinators of the meeting were Dr. Maria José Sánchez Pérez, professor at the Andalusian School of Public Health and scientific director of ibs.GRANADA, Dr. Pilar Navarro, professor at the Andalusian School of Public Health and Dr. Ana Casas .

The most diagnosed cancer in the world

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed tumor in the world, with more than 2.3 million new cases in 2020, close to 35,000, in Spain. In Andalusia alone, almost 6,000 diagnoses are expected in 2022, which places the prevalence of the tumor at 23,000 people, out of the 517,000 in all of Spain1.

Known by specialists as ‘breast carcinoma’, it is much more frequent in women than in men (99% of cases compared to 1%), and is made up of a group of malignant cells that multiply uncontrollably and can spread to other organs or tissues, which is known as metastasis. It is estimated that between 5 and 6% of patients have metastases at the time of diagnosis and that around 30% of people diagnosed with early stage breast cancer will go on to develop metastases even years after finishing treatment.

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