At the end of this year, the Department of Health will replace the mobile mammography unit of the Early Detection of Breast Cancer Program (PDPCM) of Navarra with a new one, which is currently under construction. With this investment of 304,000 euros, the aim is to improve the comfort of the more than 20,000 women who access this service each year, providing them with a space more appropriate to current needs, and also the comfort of the professionals in the health fields who They use it daily, highlights the Department on the occasion of World Breast Cancer Day, which is commemorated on October 19.
75% of the 218 breast cancers diagnosed last year in the screening program were in early stages (0 and I); “good data that reflects that the objective is being achieved, which is early detection for a better prognosis of cases,” they say from the Early Detection section of the Institute of Public and Occupational Health of Navarra (ISPLN), which is in charge of the development, coordination, evaluation and control of the entire program.
The PDPCM, which was launched in 1990, finished its 16th round last February and in March began its 17th round, which will end in March 2026 after inviting more than 128,000 women registered in the Foral Community with ages between 45 and 69 years old to have a mammogram.
Women born in 1978, 1979 and 1980 join the program
In the current round, three cohorts of new women have been included, instead of the two that are usually incorporated, so that the target population is all those born between January 1, 1954 and December 31, 1980. Some 128,717 Navarra, according to NaStat, that throughout these two years they will receive a personal letter at their home indicating the day and time that has been reserved for them to carry out the mammographic examination, explain from the Early Detection section of the ISPLN .
To this end, since November of last year they have had three new digital mammographs, equipped with tomosynthesis, technology that not only improves the detection of breast cancer, but also avoids, in a significant number of cases, the referral of women for complementary evaluation. , thus reducing the potential adverse effects of screening, such as anxiety, unnecessary radiation and inappropriate care overload, among others.
Latest program results
In 2023, examinations were carried out on women residing in the areas of Barañáin / Barañain, Berriozar, Buñuel, Cascante, Cintruénigo, Corella, Estella-Villatuerta-Amescoa, Huarte / Uharte, Mendillorri, Noáin / Noain, Orkoien, Tudela, Valtierra, Villava / Atarrabia and the postal codes of Pamplona / Iruña 31008, 31011, 31012, 31014, and 31016. In total, 19 areas were visited that include 294 municipalities.
Specifically, last year 48,216 women were invited, carrying out 38,110 screening examinations and 55 for adaptation to a new area of residence. 1,122 mid-term reviews were also carried out. It was necessary to perform complementary examinations (new projections and/or ultrasound) on 2,766 women, with 335 having to be referred to hospital units for diagnostic evaluation and subsequent treatment, if necessary.
In this way, 218 cancers were detected: 35 intraductal (16%), 128 in stage I (58.7%), 43 in stage II (19.7%), 10 in stage III (4.5%) and only a case in stage IV. Furthermore, 82% of invasive tumors did not present lymph node invasion at the time of diagnosis. Likewise, of all breast cancers diagnosed in women between 45 and 69 years old in Navarra, 85% were carried out within the early detection program.
Regarding round 17, whose data are still very initial, since last March and until September 30, 24,885 screening examinations have been carried out (14,246 in the fixed unit and 10,639 in the mobile unit) and 710 intermediate reviews (456 in the fixed unit and 254 in the mobile unit). 891 complementary examinations have also been performed and 135 women have been sent to hospital units for evaluation.
The Early Detection section points out that it has been possible to recover part of the delay that occurred at the end of lap 16 and estimates that when the current lap ends it will have been fully recovered.
452 new cases in 2023 and the mortality rate decreases by 21% in two decades
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Navarra, after skin cancer. The absolute number of cases has increased significantly (16.5%) between 2013 and 2023, going from 388 to 452, according to estimates from the Cancer Registry of the Institute of Public and Occupational Health of Navarra.
15% of the tumors were diagnosed in women under 45 years of age, 57% in women between 45 and 69 years of age, and 28% in women over 69 years of age.
The trends in the adjusted rates, which take into account the growth of the population residing in Navarra and its aging, indicate an increase in the risk of breast cancer of 4% in the last decade. However, this increase in incidence has also been documented in Spain and Europe in the same period.
Regarding deaths, data from the Mortality Registry indicate that the average number of deaths from breast cancer was 84 per year in the period 2020-2022, which represents 2.7% of the total deaths in women. The annual mortality rate from this cancer has decreased by 21.2% in the last two decades, from 25.7 deaths per 100,000 women in 2000-2004 to 20.3 per 100,000 in 2020-2022.
Stability in the activity of the HUN Oncology Service
Regarding healthcare activity, the Oncology Service of the University Hospital of Navarra (HUN) has treated 338 people in first consultations between January and September of this year, a figure practically similar to that registered in the same period of 2023 (348). . Likewise, 517 patients with breast cancer have received treatment at HUN (last year there were 518) and 54 at the Reina Sofía Hospital in Tudela (in 2023 there were 52).
As for staff, there are 10 resident internal doctors training in the service, one more than in 2023, and since October 1, the Tudela Hospital has one more oncologist, who shares his activity with the HUN.
In the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, in addition to the Oncology service, professionals from Surgery, Radiotherapy, Pathological Anatomy, Radiology, Plastic Surgery, Rehabilitation… A multidisciplinary joint work that allows the survival of patients at 5 years of diagnosis is, according to the latest data from the Navarra Cancer Registry, around 87%.