A woman on a mission
After finding a lump in her breast in December 2002, it took several weeks for Emmanuelle
Gattuso to receive her diagnosis. “It was an agonizing wait,” she recalled. “Studies
have shown that stress can have a negative impact on a patient’s condition.”
Emmanuelle learned of a pilot program in breast cancer rapid diagnosis devised at the time by Dr. David McCready, now Director, The Gattuso Rapid Diagnostic Centre, Gattuso Chair in Breast Surgical Oncology and Head of the Breast Cancer Program at The Princess Margaret. Dr. McCready had noticed that patients referred to him for a consultation had waited approximately 33 days for their diagnosis.
With initial funding from The Weekend To End Breast Cancer and Laugh Lines, Dr. McCready was able to initiate a breast cancer rapid diagnosis pilot program. It is at this Centre where women and men referred by their family physicians and who were suspected to have breast cancer, would be able to get a diagnosis in one day. If the tests confirm that there is breast cancer, the patient also leaves the Centre with a treatment plan. One of the keys to the expedited program was the Xpress Rapid Tissue Processor. Since initiating the rapid diagnosis program in 2006, a total of 526 women and men have been through the Centre, as of September 2009.
In May 2009, Emmanuelle and her husband, media mogul Allan Slaight, donated $12.5 million to the program, and committed to help raise another $12.5 million. With the assistance of Emmanuelle’s generous gift, the program, now renamed The Gattuso Rapid Diagnostic Centre, is building. The Centre can currently see an average of 300 patients a year however that number is escalating so that by its final phase (2013-2018), 3,000 women and men will be seen each year. “The main advantage is to get a surgical plan, a treatment plan and be able to plan your life and reduce the anxiety of not knowing,” Dr. McCready said.
It is believed that the Gattuso Rapid Diagnostic Centre is currently the only Centre in North America delivering a complete breast cancer diagnosis and treatment plan in one day. As the Centre changes the standard of care for breast cancer, it will hopefully one day alter the standard of care for all cancers.
