Integration of cervical and breast cancer early detection. What does it take?

Image: ©Martagpr

How to integrate the early detection of cervical and breast cancers is a priority for many countries because breast cancer is steadily increasing worldwide; and breast cancer has not replaced, but rather added to the burden of other women’s cancers. In many places, we observe that high rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality coexist with increasing rates of breast cancer which results in a double burden of female cancers that further challenge economic and human development.

Some countries have developed and implemented a variety of initiatives for the early detection of cervical and breast cancers at the primary care level, using a variety of approaches - from cervical cancer clinics that screen for breast cancer, to one-stop breast clinics that integrate HPV screening for cervical cancer and HIV testing or combined screening. The goal of these models is the same, to compress several-step care pathways into shorter interactions with the health system and use the opportunity to screen for breast and cervical cancer when women interact with the health system, to significantly reduce system-related delays. Each setting has conceptualized the interventions differently to fit their context, which is impacting the dissemination and potential replication in other places.

To build capacity to replicate and scale up these interventions to detect cervical and breast cancer early, the CANswers Project is working to identify the core elements necessary for the effective implementation of integrated cervical and breast cancer early detection, and to to consider the adaptations that are needed to effectively deliver early detection of cervical and breast cancer in an integrated manner versus delivering breast or cervical cancer early detection on their own.