A new technology in breast cancer surgery that promises to be less invasive and lead to better cosmetic outcomes is being pioneered in a New South Wales hospital.
Griffith Base Hospital, nearly 600 kilometres south-west of Sydney, is the first in the state's public health system to use metallic seeds the size of a grain of rice to mark cancerous lesions in breasts.
Historically, flexible wires were inserted into the breast as a marker ahead of surgery.
But they can move, be uncomfortable, be difficult for a surgeon to find, and result in unnecessary tissue being removed.
The hospital's head surgeon, Kate FitzGerald, used the seeds when working overseas and saw how their insertion allowed her to undertake a more accurate and cosmetically elegant surgery.
She said she became frustrated at having to go back to using the wires.
'A lot of it was to make my life and patients' lives a bit easier," Dr FitzGerald said.
"I'd end up having to do another wire case and I'd get to the end of it going, 'Oh my God, what am I doing still here, trying to find a wire? There's technology out there. I can work better and smarter'."
Surgery success
It was the catalyst for what ended up being a three-year process led by Dr FitzGerald to get the relevant approvals to use the seeds.
"The paperwork was arduous," she said.
"[There was] a lot of red tape, but also then the red tape would change, so a new form would come out with a new set of paperwork and then COVID hit."
Cost was also a factor.
Wires are cheap, which is why they are used prolifically by hospitals.
So Dr FitzGerald prepared a presentation for the Griffith Breast Cancer Support Group.
"We really felt that it ticked all the boxes for us," group president Kaye Mossman said.
"The implanting of the seed made surgery such an accurate exercise, not so much tissue needed to be removed, it was a really great thing."
The group used its financial reserves and held fundraisers such as raffles to raise the more than $50,000 needed to buy 10 seeds and the machine used to locate them once they were inserted.
Dr FitzGerald has completed six surgeries this year using the seeds and a further two are scheduled in the next month.
She said there had been positive feedback so far.
"Five of the six have nothing to compare it to, but all found it was pain-free apart from a bit of local anaesthetic," she said.
"One woman had previously had a wire-guided procedure and her feedback was amazing.
"She said it was like night and day and what she actually called the wire was barbaric."
Government takes note
NSW Regional Health Minister Bronnie Taylor said what had happened in Griffith was inspiring and there was a place for community-funded equipment at public hospitals.
"No one told this group to go and do that, they've done it because they want to, because they love their community," she said.
"I know people look to government and a lot of people would say that's the expectation of government, but this actually brings a sense of ownership.
"It pushes government to look at things."
Ms Taylor said the state government would be open to funding the technology in other hospitals.
"It's definitely something we want to progress," she said.
"Let's look at the evidence, it's extremely positive, and let's keep going with that."
The Murrumbidgee Local Health District said it had committed to the ongoing funding of the seeds and discussions were underway about how they could be used in other hospitals in the region.
