JIM LINCOLN
PUBLIC HEALTH
Lifesavers CPRIT funds research, prevention BY CRYSTAL CONDE Con-
necting residents in medi- cally underserved Texas communities with lifesav- ing cancer screenings is not easy. It requires tremen- dous local resources and working together. Keith Argenbright, MD, medical director of Mon- crief Cancer Institute in Fort Worth, knows this all too well. From 2010 to September of this year, he headed the Breast Screen- ing and Patient Navigation (BSPAN) project, a breast cancer screening program that received a $999,960 two-year grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Tex- as (CPRIT). It provided more than 3,000 women in five counties with mam- mograms, resulting in 99 breast cancer diagnoses. Moncrief is an affiliate of The University of Texas Southwestern Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center in Dallas. The project works with community leaders and health care professionals to increase access to breast cancer screening, mammograms, and biopsies. Dr. Argenbright says BSPAN raised public awareness of breast cancer screening and resources available to women who would not be able to afford mammograms and diagnostic services. “We’ve been able to take that awareness and use it to build functional partnerships among Moncrief, local hospitals and physicians, and community leaders. BSPAN has provided an
opportunity to educate lo- cal physicians about best practices in breast cancer screening and diagnostics,” he said.
CPRIT funds allowed
Keith Argenbright, MD, reviews a chart with a breast cancer survivor who received a free biopsy at Moncrief Cancer Institute thanks to fund- ing provided by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
BSPAN to serve women in Denton, Wise, Parker, Johnson, and Hood coun- ties, which make up a re- gion that has a slightly elevated incidence rate of invasive breast cancer. The average incidence rate for the five counties in 2009 was 120 cases per 100,000 compared with the state rate of 118 per 100,000, according to the Texas Cancer Registry. Dr. Argen- bright hopes researchers can analyze the informa- tion collected through the program to determine why the incidence rate is higher in the area. Dr. Argenbright testi- fied before the Senate Fi- nance Committee in early 2011 that BSPAN saves $2.70 in state health care costs for every $1 spent on breast cancer preven- tion. BSPAN reached more
than 287,000 people through advertisements, public service announcements, events, and other outreach efforts, he says. BSPAN was so successful at providing comprehensive mam- mography and appropriate follow-up services in the five-coun- ty region the program is entering phase two and expanding into 12 surrounding counties. CPRIT awarded UT Southwest- ern $2.8 million this year to fund BSPAN2. Moncrief is one of many institutions to benefit from CPRIT
December 2012 TEXAS MEDICINE 47
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