FALL RIVER — Looking for a Mother’s Day gift to yourself or a loved one? Consider scheduling an annual screening mammogram at Saint Anne’s Hospital’s “Treat Yourself Well” event on Monday, May 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the hospital’s Robert F. Stoico/FIRSTED Center for Breast Care.
According to the American Cancer Society:
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women, but if diagnosed early, it is usually cured.
More than 268,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2019. In Massachusetts, more than 6,600 patients will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
If diagnosed at a localized stage (i.e., no spread to lymph nodes, nearby structures, or other locations outside the breast), the five-year survival rate is 99 percent.
Also according to the ACS, there’s even more good news. From 2007 to 2016, the breast cancer death rate declined by 1.8 percent per year. The female breast cancer death rate peaked at 33.2 (per 100,000) in 1989, then declined by 40 percent to 20.0 in 2016. This progress, says the ACS, reflects improvements in early detection through screening, as well as increased awareness of symptoms and treatment.
There’s yet one more good reason to have regular screening mammograms: According to an international review of breast cancer screening published in the New England Journal of Medicine, women ages 50 to 69 who attend mammography screening reduce their risk of dying from breast cancer by 40 percent, compared with women who are not screened.
How to “Treat Yourself Well”
If you’re due for your annual screening mammogram, “Treat Yourself Well” is the perfect time to focus on good health and celebrate with pink-themed refreshments and a relaxing “spa” atmosphere before and after a mammogram. A physician's referral for an annual screening mammogram is not required; however, advance appointments are required.
For those unable to attend this special event, appointments for mammograms may be made for other convenient early-morning, evening and weekend hours. Same-day appointments also are available.
The Stoico/FIRSTFED Center for Breast Care is located at Saint Anne’s Hospital, 795 Middle Street, Fall River. Free valet parking is available at the hospital’s main entrance, just steps from the center. To make an appointment for “Treat Yourself Well” or learn more, call the Stoico/FIRSTFED Center for Breast Care, 508-235-5353.
About the Robert F. Stoico/FIRSTFED Center for Breast Care
Established in 2001, the Robert F. Stoico/FIRSTFED Center for Breast Care at Saint Anne’s Hospital offers all-digital diagnostic capabilities, including mammography, ultrasound, breast MRI, sentinel node biopsy, stereotactic breast biopsy, needle localization, and bone densitometry. The center provides a full range of coordinated medical and surgical breast health treatment options, including access to comprehensive cancer care and national clinical trials through Saint Anne’s Hospital Regional Cancer Center. The center is a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence accredited by the American College of Radiology’s Commission on Quality and Safety and the Commission on Breast Imaging.
About Saint Anne’s Hospital
Founded by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation in 1906, Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts, is a full-service, acute care Catholic hospital with 211 beds and satellite locations in Dartmouth, Attleboro, Swansea, New Bedford, and Stoughton, Massachusetts. A member of Steward Health Care, Saint Anne’s provides nationally recognized patient- and family-centered inpatient care and outpatient clinical services to patients from surrounding Massachusetts and Rhode Island communities.
In addition to comprehensive breast care, Saint Anne’s key services include the Center for Orthopedic Excellence; bariatric surgery; multiple robotic-assisted surgical capabilities, including orthopedic surgery, spine surgery, and general surgery; Saint Anne’s Hospital Regional Cancer Center; two ambulatory surgery centers; the Center for Pain Management; and inpatient geriatric psychiatry services.
To view the American Cancer Society research, visit https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2019/cancer-facts-and-figures-2019.pdf