All Articles on Cancer

• ‘Glad you’re listening’: SIMBA study brings patients’ voices to the fore

  For the three million women in the United States who’ve survived breast cancer, difficult health care choices come with the territory. But even after successful treatment, an important question lingers: Should they consider magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in addition to mammography for ongoing breast cancer screening, or “surveillance”?
• High-risk women get breast MRI—but room remains for improvement

  A large national study in JAMA Internal Medicine has found that the rate of women receiving breast MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) nearly tripled from 2005 to 2009: from four to 11 exams per 1,000 women.
• Dr. Evette Ludman reflects on her career, her diagnosis, and the GHRI endowment

  One year after GHRI Research Associate Evette Ludman, PhD, coached nurse navigators to help cancer patients with difficult treatment decisions, she discovered the work’s value in a very personal way.
• CT scans—with radiation and cancer risk—rose in children

  Use of computed tomography (CT) scans—and thus exposure to ionizing radiation—increased over 15 years in children at a set of nonprofit health care delivery systems in a new study. But currently available strategies could greatly reduce this cancer risk, according to the HMORN Cancer Research Network study, published in JAMA Pediatrics.
• Action to improve imaging safety earns Birnbaum Award

  This dedication to improving patient safety while maintaining clinical excellence earned a Group Health radiology team the 2013 Birnbaum Award, which honors Group Health staff who work with researchers to improve patient care.
• Biennial mammograms best for ages 50–74, even with dense breasts

  Screening for breast cancer every two years appears just as beneficial as yearly mammograms for women age 50–74, with significantly fewer “false positives”—even for women whose breasts were dense or who used hormone therapy for menopause.
• Colon cancer screening doubles with new e-health record use

  Researchers used electronic health records to identify Group Health patients who weren’t screened regularly for cancer of the colon and rectum—and to encourage them to be screened. This centralized, automated approach doubled these patients’ rates of on-time screening—and saved health costs—over two years. The March 5 Annals of Internal Medicine published the randomized controlled trial.