October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Heartlands Hospital Charity is proud to support the incredible work of the breast cancer team at the hospital, helping to provide world class equipment to help in the fight against cancer.

Heartlands Hospital Charity recently funded a Faxitron machine for the breast cancer pathology team at Heartlands. The Faxitron machine is a specialised piece of equipment that provides X-ray images of sample tissues so that the pathologists can identify and target breast abnormalities more easily and more accurately.

As the Faxitron machine can identify areas of calcification and tumours very quickly, it will mean that there is a shorter lead time, and patients will receive their results much more quickly. The results will be more accurate than ever before, and the machine allows the team to focus on a targeted area, and to identify extra tumours or areas of concern that would not have been picked up before.

Dr Neha Dalal is Clinical Service Lead and Consultant Histopathologist at Heartlands Hospital, and is now working with the Faxitron machine to improve the quality of care for breast cancer patients at the hospital. She said: “There have already been a range of cases here at Heartlands where the Faxitron machine has made a huge impact in diagnosis and turnaround time. The Faxitron allows us to find multiple tumours at once, and find areas of abnormal calcification which could help pick up pre-cancerous lesions. This means that we are able to identify problematic areas in the breast tissue at a much earlier stage than before.”

“The imaging that the Faxitron gives us means that we know exactly which area of breast tissue to test, whereas before it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. The Faxitron also enables us to work better as a team, as we can now compare the images from the Faxitron with the radiological images taken before surgery in our multi-disciplinary team meetings, and therefore arrive at the best treatment options for the patients.”

Sian Averill, Fundraising Manager at Heartlands Hospital Charity, said: “The Charity is delighted to have been able to fund the incredible Faxitron machine. The machine is already making a life-saving difference to patients at Heartlands, and will continue to do so long into the future. This is a fantastic example of the world-class equipment that the Charity is able to fund thanks to the generous support of donors.

“Thanks to the Charity’s supporters, the breast cancer team have a new piece of equipment in their cancer-fighting kit that they did not have last breast cancer awareness month. With your support, the Charity will continue to provide added extras for the breast cancer team, helping them to go ‘over and above’ for their patients."

For more information or to donate to the Breast Cancer Appeal please click here

To enter the Breast Cancer Awareness Month raffle for your chance to win some amazing prizes, please click here

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