Cutting edge Sharjah breast cancer centre to follow French model

SHARJAH // A new, multidisciplinary breast cancer treatment centre will be developed based on models from cancer research centres in France, officials have announced.

The centre is a product of a joint cooperation agreement signed on Sunday between the University Hospital Sharjah and Institut Gustave-Roussy, of France, in the presence of Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, the Supreme Council member and Ruler of Sharjah.

It will offer a coordinated patient pathway model that includes the rapid diagnosis of a breast lesion, the development of a treatment pathway, breast cancer surgery, including oncoplastic (reconstructive and plastic surgery) and the administration of chemotherapy, according to professor Alexander Eggermont, Gustave-Roussy's general director.

"The breast cancer treatment centre will be rolled out over five years and will be supported by regular visits from a Gustave-Roussy medical team specialising in mammary disease," he said.

He added that a setting-up phase had started and would last for three to four months. It will include the training of Sharjah health staff at Gustave-Roussy (a medical oncologist, a surgeon and a chemotherapy pharmacist).

The second phase will be the launch phase, lasting from six to nine months. In this phase, the breast cancer treatment centre will be operational and it will also include the regular presence of a Gustave-Roussy medical team at Sharjah hospital.

The team will be led by a project manager who will be present in Sharjah full-time for the first four to five months of the contract.

The third phase will be a growth and autonomy phase that will last two years, by which time the breast cancer treatment centre will be fully functional. This phase will include upscaling the surgical activity and the administration of chemotherapy, training the Sharjah medical team in the ever-more-complex protocols and an advanced assessment of how the centre is working.

And the last phase, prof Eggermont said, is a fully functioning phase, where the Sharjah medical team will be fully trained and operational in all surgical treatment protocols and in breast cancer medical oncology.

The University Hospital Sharjah has 210 beds and 40 speciality outpatient clinics.