New study compares HPV test to Pap test for cervical cancer screening
The BC Cancer Agency is leading a new study to determine if a test for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) can replace the standard Pap test as the primary method of cervical cancer screening, allowing women to be screened more effectively and less frequently.
The HPV FOCAL Study – the first long term and largest study of its kind in North America – is being conducted in collaboration with another PHSA agency, the BC Centre for Disease Control, as well as the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, McGill University Department of Epidemiology, and about 100 family doctors in Greater Vancouver.
The study aims to enroll 33,000 participants over the next seven years. Women age 25-65 who attend one of the more than 100 participating family practices will have the opportunity to be part of the study. Participants will have a cervical sample taken by their family doctor during their regular screening appointment, with appropriate follow-up depending on the test results. The sample is collected from a woman the same way as a Pap smear is obtained – the only difference is how the sample is processed in the laboratory.
For the full story, please visit: http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/ABCCA/NewsCentre/2008/hpvfocal.htm
Advancing Strategic Direction #2
Establish the knowledge generation and application model within the provincial cancer control system
Centre for the Southern Interior celebrates 10 year milestone
On April 5, the Centre for the Southern Interior was joined by old and new friends at its 10th anniversary open house celebration. Health Minister George Abbott took time out of his weekend to congratulate the centre staff and community, as did long-time fundraiser and supporter the Honourable Sindi Hawkins, who made her first public appearance in the Okanagan after battling leukemia for the second time.
“This is a celebration of the community, the staff at the centre, and the BC Cancer Agency,” said Dr. Simon Sutcliffe, president, BC Cancer Agency. “We should all collectively be proud of what the centre has accomplished over the past 10 years.”
Over the past decade, patients from across the Southern Interior have benefited from the addition of new programs offered at the BC Cancer Agency’s Centre for the Southern Interior. This includes Telehealth services, launched in 2004, allowing patients in satellite centres to remotely consult with oncologists in Kelowna by video link and reducing their need to travel. The centre also launched a brachytherapy program in April 2007, reducing the need for eligible prostate cancer patients to travel to Vancouver for this specialized radiotherapy treatment.
Advancing Strategic Direction #1
Sustain and advance the BC Cancer Agency's system of cancer control
ImPROVING Diagnostic Breast Imaging and Hereditary Cancer Programs
Recently, the BC Cancer Agency’s Diagnostic Breast Imaging and Hereditary Cancer Programs took part in one of the Agency’s first Rapid imPROVE events, with the aim to identify strategies to streamline operations.
Rapid imPROVE events give staff from a specific program area the opportunity to work together in a week-long brainstorming exercise. The goal of these events is to examine and redesign work environments in an effort to create more effective and efficient processes.
Diagnostic Imaging
“Our patients’ needs are at the heart of this exercise,” says Diane Heinrichs, Mammography Section Head. “Our goal is to help reduce the amount of time women need to wait for a breast diagnostic exam, and ultimately, the anxiety they feel. By finding ways to eliminate unnecessary tasks and improve processes, we hope to be able to do this.”
“I interact with the women waiting for a diagnostic exam on a regular basis, and it’s never easy to tell them they need to wait for an appointment,” says Leanne Boguski, senior receptionist from Diagnostic Imaging who participated in the Rapid imPROVE event. “It feels really good to have the opportunity to be a part of a solution, and to know I’m doing something to help our patients.”
“This exercise allowed us to problem-solve as a team and to come up with strategies that we are all comfortable with moving forward,” adds Diane.
After five intense days, the team came up with strategies and an impressive 90-day implementation plan, which will help:
- reduce “non-value added” processes by 56 percent
- reduce the turnaround time from the receipt of referral requisition to the hand-off to the radiologist by 64 percent
- increase weekly stereotactic core biopsy slots by 29 percent
- eliminate 12 steps in the breast referral paper process
“We’re very proud of what we accomplished in such a short period,” says Diane. “We’re optimistic that implementing our ideas will help us cope with the increasing demands for our department’s services.”
The Diagnostic Breast Imaging Program receives approximately 4,000 referrals annually from across B.C. for specialized breast imaging, including diagnostic mammography, ultrasound, MRI and interventional procedures.
Hereditary Cancer Program 
“It was empowering to be able to gather together as a group without interruptions for an entire week and look at opportunities to streamline our processes,” says Jenna Scott, clinical coordinator for the Hereditary Cancer Program (HCP).
As with Diagnostic Imaging, the HCP was coping with increased patient referrals and subsequently longer patient wait times.
“This detailed assessment of our processes, with a critical eye for eliminating waste, has helped us to identify some major inefficiencies,” says Jenna. “The benefits will be felt long term, as our entire staff now think about ImPROVE concepts even when we’re completing a simple task. Overall, this translates to better patient care.”
The HCP team looked at the people, technology, policies and procedures from the time of patient referral to the booking of appointments. The HCP team came up with 10 key recommendations, which included:
- consolidating two family history forms into one concise, easy-to-complete document, and requiring this be completed prior to booking an appointment
- placing more responsibility on patients to follow-up, when they are ready to access services, rather than HCP initiating follow-up
- changing the current “waitlist approach” to a “referral list”, allowing for more complete tracking of workload and wait times for different service delivery endpoints
- establishing set criteria for triaging patient referrals into specific appointment types
- only booking complex cases to see the medical geneticist, while routine cases are managed by a genetic counsellor
- standardizing chart organization so all pertinent documents are easy to locate, with a single data entry point.
“The recommendations should decrease the amount of time from referral to the time we are able to book a patient appointment by about a third, and by ensuring charts are adequately prepped prior to appointments, we should be able to increase our appointments by 20 percent,” says Jenna.
Advancing Strategic Direction #4
To ensure we have the resources to achieve maximal organizational effectiveness.
Dr. Peter Stevenson-Moore
Head of Agency oral oncology program for 30 years calls it quits (sort-of)
Dr. Peter Stevenson-Moore is smiling more broadly these days. It might have something to do with slowing down after a stellar career in dentistry, including 30 years as the head of the BC Cancer Agency’s oral oncology program.
He doesn’t want to call it a retirement yet, as he’ll still keep his private practice, and continue his work making prostheses. And, he’s taken on the chairmanship of a major international conference.
A native of England - trained in dentistry at Guy’s Hospital in London - he found a teaching position at UBC, but left B.C. to attend the University of Washington where he received his Masters degree in prosthodontics.
After two years in the U.S., he decided to inform the BC College of Dental Surgeons of his whereabouts. The first bulletin he received from the College at his new address included an ad for a dentist to head the oral oncology program at the BC Cancer Agency. “The ad was about an inch high, and I didn’t even notice it. I tossed it in the trash,” says Peter. His wife Sandra picked out the bulletin, found the ad, and asked, "why don’t you apply?"
He was reluctant to send in his resume because he didn’t feel that he had the experience, but he was called for an initial interview with David Boyes, George Goodman, Stewart Jackson, Dick Beck, and Ray Allen and the rest, as they say, is history.
“At the time the Agency didn’t have a dentist on active staff, but it recognized that patients were experiencing significant oral complications as a result of radiation therapy. MD Anderson had developed a successful protocol for treating oral post-radiation therapy complications, which they wanted to adopt here in B.C.,” says Peter. The new protocol eventually drove down the complication rates from osteoradionecrosis from 22 percent to under two percent.
The Agency also didn’t have a clinician who was trained to make prostheses on-site, which was another advantage for Peter.
He hit the ground running, and over the years developed a strong team, introducing many new protocols to improve patient outcomes, and developed networks in the dental community, to provide education and training, as well as forging links with faculties at dental schools.
“His greatest legacy has been taking a department from a one-person, part-time operation working out of a trailer at the Vancouver Centre 30 years ago, to a full-time, provincial program with an enviable reputation for excellence in patient care and research,” says Dr. Allan Hovan, who has been a colleague and friend for 13 years.
“Peter has provided excellent prosthodontic care to hundreds of Agency patients. This care has made a significant impact to the quality of life of so many patients."
Abbotsford Centre: Agency and Fraser Health Authority to jointly operate library
For the first time ever – as part of a shared services model – the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) has teamed up with the Fraser Health Authority (FHA) to jointly operate a library to serve patients, staff, researchers, medical students, and the public at the new Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre (ARHCC).
“The library is located on the first level adjacent to the ARHCC’s main lobby and will contain books, journals, and videos on a full-spectrum of health issues,” says Cathy Rayment, Provincial Library Leader at the BC Cancer Agency. All cancer-related resources will be purchased by the BCCA while all general medical collections will be purchased by the FHA.
“By combining health and medical resources from the BCCA and FHA in one convenient location, we believe that this library will be able to offer everyone more streamlined access to resources and services,” explains Cathy.
“We are widely acknowledged as the experts in creating comprehensive cancer collections for medical staff and patien
Library Fast Facts
- 270 net square metres, located on main floor atrium with easy access for all patients, staff, and visitors
- Fully automated circulation system
- Oncology and other medical specialties merged into an integrated collection
- 12 work stations where staff, patients, and visitors can access on-line resources
- A separate area for consumer health information
- An audiovisual room where patients can watch educational videos
- Online access to oncology journals and databases (as in other regional centres)
- Open Monday to Friday
ts in B.C. Those materials will now be
easily accessible to all Abbotsford Hospital staff and patients, and BCCA staff and patients will have access to a well-stocked general medical library as well.”
Library staff from both FHA and BCCA will be familiar with both the general medical and cancer collections, so there will always be someone in the library who can assist in searches or help find information.
Over the last five years, the library at the BC Cancer Agency’s Research Centre in Vancouver has collected duplicate medical journals to put into storage until the Summer 2008 opening. “In addition, thanks to the Order of Eastern Star’s generous donation of $7,500, more than 250 patient education books/videos/DVDs have been bought for the new library,” says Cathy.
The new library includes an audiovisual room, a designated patient/public room, computer workstations, and an automated circulation system.
For more information on the Abbotsford Centre library, please contact Cathy at 604.675.8004 or e-mail her at crayment@bccancer.bc.ca
Advancing Strategic Direction #3
Support regional centres, regions, and communities with the implementation of provincial cancer control programs and the integration of knowledge.
Go for a spin with Trevor Linden and Axel Merckx – you could win a trip to the Tour de France!
Team BC Cancer invites you, your family and friends to register for the BC Cancer Foundation’s Westside Cycling Classic, Sunday, June 1, for a day of cycling celebrities and competitors, a recreational fundraising ride and an outdoor family festival.
The BC Cancer Foundation’s newest fundraiser combines two cycling events – the Provincial Road Race Championships for top amateur racers, and an all-ages afternoon community ride for recreational riders, including shorter routes for younger riders ages 4 to 11 and 12 to 17. All proceeds from the community ride will support research at the BC Cancer Agency.
Tour de France veteran, Belgian national cycling champion and Olympic medalist Axel Merckx and Vancouver Canucks fan favourite Trevor Linden will lead the 40-km community ride around Vancouver’s scenic Westside.
Top fundraisers can win amazing prizes including a private dinner with Axel Merckx and Trevor Linden. The grand prize is a guided trip for two to the 2008 Tour de France (details at
http://www.sportingtours.co.uk/letour/alps_paris.html.)
Register today to have time to fundraise and train!
Join Team BC Cancer, Vancouver or Team BC Cancer VIC at
www.cycleforcancer.com or call 604.696.BIKE (2453).
Advancing Strategic Direction #4
To ensure we have the resources to achieve maximal organizational effectiveness.
Newsmakers
In March, the Clinical Tobacco Intervention Recognition Program (CTIRP) certified its 1,000th healthcare practitioner, Joy Bunsko from the BC Cancer Agency’s Fraser Valley Centre.
CTIRP is a free online tool which teaches healthcare professionals in several disciplines how to conduct brief cessation interventions to assist smokers in quitting. CTIRP was developed by the Prevention Program, BCCA nurses and personnel, and partners, and is currently administered by Healthy Heart. For more information, please visit:
http://www.clinicalprevention.ca/ctirp/index.htm Andrew Fielding, Iveta Dobreva, Paul McDonald, Dr. Shoukat Dedhar (Cancer Genetics), and Leonard Foster's (UBC) research showing the novel role of ILK in regulating mitosis and its relevance in cancer treatment was highlighted as a cover story in the
Journal of Cell Biology. The research was also highlighted in the journal
Science in an “editors’ choice” column.
For future Newsmakers: BCMA Excellence in Health Promotion Awards deadline is May 5, 2008. The awards recognize and honour an individual, a B.C. based not-for-profit organization, and a B.C. based company working towards improving the health and safety of British Columbians. Nominees must have demonstrated a concern for health and safety through specific actions or initiatives that show ingenuity and creativity, with the goal of positive, long-term improvement. For more information, please visit: www.bcma.org