Fast Fact - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Education and OutreachFighting Cancer on Four WheelsFast Facts:Mammography Van by the Numbers25,000+3,968806340+When Marianne (not her real name), a40-year-old woman from Dorchester, Mass.,took the first steps toward detecting her stage 1breast cancer, it wasn’t in her doctor’s office.It was on four wheels. The screening that firstdetected an abnormality in Marianne’s breastwas conducted on Dana-Farber’s MammographyVan, which provides annual breastscreenings and health education to womenthroughout the Greater Boston area.The mammography van is the only vehicleof its kind in Massachusetts. It providesmammograms to all women who requestone, regardless of their ability to pay.Nearly a quarter of the approximately4,000 women who visit the van each yearfor the 15-minute procedure don’t haveNumber of mammograms the van has providedsince its inception in 2002.Number of mammograms conducted on Boston’sMammography Van in fiscal year 2009.Percentage of women of ethnic minority backgroundswho receive annual screenings on the van.Number of women (through fiscal 2009) who havereceived a confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer afteran initial screening on Boston’s Mammography Van.Dana-Farber partnerships with community healthcenters involving the van.health insurance. These women are encouragedto apply for insurance, and those without aprimary care physician can find one with helpfrom van staff members.“The mammography van provides a sourceof screenings and education for women whooften don’t have easy access to such services,”says Melissa Saporetti, program manager forthe van. “Many of the women we see are uninsured,low-income, elderly, immigrant, non-English speaking, or of other ethnic or racialminority backgrounds. We’re a real lifeline forthese women.”Van visits have increased each year. In2009, around 64 percent of patients werereturning to the van for an annual mammogram,which shows that the service helpswomen continually monitor their breasthealth and stay connected to the health caresystem. The 38-foot-long vehicle is fitted withGE Healthcare’s Senographe Essential ® digitalmammography system, which provides thesame high level of image quality that patientsreceive at Dana-Farber, says Jack Meyer, MD,director of Breast Imaging at DFCI.4 www.dana-farber.org