NBOCC News - April 2010

In this issue...

New Chair appointed for NBOCC Board of Directors

The Hon Nicola Roxon MP, Minister for Health and Ageing, has appointed Professor Ian Olver as Chair of National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre’s (NBOCC’s) Board of Directors for a period of three months from April 2010.

Professor Olver’s appointment follows the resignation of former Chair Dr Megan Keaney to take up an appointment with the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Dr Keaney served on NBOCC’s Board of Directors from April 2004 and as Chair from 2006.

The Board and staff of NBOCC extend their sincere thanks to Dr Keaney for her enthusiasm, dedication and leadership during her term and her ongoing commitment to the work of NBOCC.

NBOCC welcomes the appointment of Professor Olver, who has a long standing involvement with NBOCC having served on the organisation’s Management Committee in 1998 and more recently on NBOCC’s Board of Directors since 2004. Professor Olver brings a wealth of experience in cancer control to the position of Chair and NBOCC looks forward to working with him in this new capacity.

Professor Olver’s three-month appointment as Chair of NBOCC’s Board of Directors is pending the announcement of longer-term arrangements regarding the position, as determined by Government.

Online breast cancer lectures for rural health professionals

Commencing in May, NBOCC, in collaboration with the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, will host a series of online breast cancer education lectures for clinicians, nurses and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers in regional and rural Australia.

The three online lectures address the continuum of breast cancer care after diagnosis:

Breast cancer diagnosis – what now?, presented by Dr Tony Green, Breast Surgeon, Cairns and Dr Geoffrey Beadle, Medical Oncologist, Wesley Medical Centre Brisbane.
Breast cancer treatment – managing the impact, presented by Associate Professor Jane Turner, Psychiatrist, University of Queensland School of Medicine.
Breast cancer treatment is over – what’s next?, presented by Dr Julie Thompson, Manager Primary Care, NBOCC.

With approximately 30 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer living in regional and rural Australia, it is crucial that rural health professionals have access to the latest evidence-based information to guide best practice care for their patients.

Rural health professionals often face challenges in accessing traditional models of continuing education. This series of lectures utilises web-based technology to provide accessible and flexible professional development opportunities for rural health professionals without the need to travel.

Extending information for rural health professionals is a project of the Supporting Women in Rural Areas Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Program, funded by the Australian Government and delivered by National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre.

The dates of the online lectures will be posted on NBOCC’s website soon. Please click here for updates. For further information, please contact Ms This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (ph. 02 9357 9478)

Supporting Sisters and Aunties to Survive! Breast cancer summits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and health workers

In the coming months, NBOCC will host three breast cancer summits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women diagnosed with breast cancer, Aboriginal Health Workers and other health professionals involved in the care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

The one-day summits, Supporting Sisters and Aunties to Survive! will be held in Darwin on 26 May, Lismore on 22 June and Broome in September.

The Supporting Sisters and Aunties to Survive! summits will cover breast cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander w darwin breast cancer summit may 2010_updated omen, treatment for survival, returning home and sources of strength and support. There will also be an opportunity for women to share their stories and experiences.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and is the second leading cause of cancer death after lung cancer. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women continue to experience poorer rates of breast cancer survival than the Australian female population as a whole.

NBOCC is committed to improving the disparities in outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women diagnosed with breast cancer through the provision of culturally appropriate, evidence-based information for women and health workers.

Registrations are now open for the Darwin (26 May) and Lismore (22 June) summits. To register for these summits, for further information or to express your interest in the Broome summit, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (ph. 02 9357 9479).

Improving knowledge and skills of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women and Health Professionals is a project of the Supporting Women in Rural Areas Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Program, funded by the Australian Government and delivered by NBOCC.

Ductal carcinoma in situ and risk of subsequent invasive breast cancer

An Australian-first report by NBOCC and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has found women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are at significantly increased risk of being diagnosed with a subsequent invasive breast cancer.

The report, Risk of invasive breast cancer in women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ in Australia between 1995 and 2005, found women diagnosed with DCIS were about four times more likely to develop a subsequent invasive breast cancer compared with women of similar age.

The subsequent risk of invasive breast cancer was significantly higher for women who were under 40 years of age when they were diagnosed with DCIS. These women were about 20 times more likely to be diagnosed with a subsequent invasive breast cancer than women of a similar age.

Amongst Australian women who had been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, women with a prior diagnosis of DCIS generally had smaller invasive breast cancers and these cancers were less likely to have spread to the lymph nodes.

This report adds to our understanding of DCIS and highlights the importance of ongoing medical surveillance after treatment for DCIS, in accordance with NBOCC clinical practice guidelines.

Risk of invasive breast cancer in women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ in Australia between 1995 and 2005 is available to view and download here.

Communicating a diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ

NBOCC has developed a new resource to support clinicians in their discussions with women diagnosed with DCIS. Understanding ductal carcinoma in situ provides information, including illustrations and diagrams, to assist women to understand their diagnosis, prognosis and treatment options.

The resource is designed to be used interactively with a woman during her consultation and then given to the patient as a take-home information resource. The resource is not designed to be a stand-alone information resource for women.

The resource provides information about DCIS, treatment options including surgery, radiotherapy and hormonal treatments, the risk of DCIS developing into invasive breast cancer, follow-up care and how to access supportive care services.

Understanding ductal carcinoma in situ is available to download here. For further information, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (ph. 02 9357 9403).

Are you a health professional working in breast or ovarian cancer?

If you have ever received or used a resource from NBOCC, we are seeking your feedback about NBOCC as a source of evidence-based information on breast and ovarian cancer.

Whether you have used our clinical practice guidelines, position statements or consumer information, we would appreciate 10 minutes of your time to complete a brief online survey. Your feedback will help to guide our future resource development to ensure we continue to provide high-quality information in the most appropriate formats to meet your needs.

Click here to complete the survey. Please note, the survey closes on Thursday 20 May 2010. For further information, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (ph. 02 9357 9408).

Staff News

NBOCC is pleased to welcome Christopher Gardner in the role of Personal Assistant to the General Managers.

Cancer Australia