Sharjah’s high tech breast cancer centre ready to get to work

The centre at Sharjah University Hospital is a joint co-operation with The Institut Gustave Roussy in France.

Dr Abdulmunhem Obaideen, Consultant Radiologist and Head of Department (L) with Dr Toufik Tabbara MD, Associate Professor of Surgery and Senior Consultant General Surgery (R) at the new breast cancer Show more

SHARJAH // A new breast cancer centre at Sharjah University Hospital will start receiving patients on Sunday.

It has been developed in cooperation with the Institut Gustave Roussy, a leading cancer research facility in France.

Staff from the hospital will work alongside cancer experts and travel to Europe to train.

Prof Hossam Hamdy, the vice chancellor for the medical and health sciences college at the university, said patients could book appointments from next week. “Once an appointment is fixed and tests have been done, the doctors would take about a week to come up with a suitable, personalised treatment plan for each patient,” he said.

The centre will offer patients a rapid diagnosis and a treatment plan, reconstructive and plastic surgery and chemotherapy, said Prof Alexander Eggermont, Gustave Roussy’s general director.

“Staff will be supported by regular visits from a Gustave Roussy medical team specialising in mammary disease,” he said.

Specialists from the institute,  which is south of Paris, will be on hand for the next year to oversee work at the centre, and offer advice and training on the latest breast-cancer treatments and technology.

“Among the new equipment is the latest digital mammogram technology that can examine breast cancer tissue,” said Dr Abdulmunhem Obaideen, the head of the hospital’s radiology section.

Dr Toufik Tabbara, an associate professor of surgery, said: “The battle against breast cancer is being fought on many fronts, and among the most important is creating awareness and closing the information gap about the disease.

“Knowledge of the disease would help patients seek early medical intervention that could help.”

Sharjah University Hospital has 210 beds and 40 outpatient clinics.