Improving access to care, one mobile screening center at a time

When Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center first introduced EDDY – Early Detection Driven to You – three years ago, it was a groundbreaking concept: Bring low-dose CT lung cancer screenings out of the hospital and into the community.

Since then, EDDY has screened more than 2,000 people for lung cancer. About a dozen people have been diagnosed, in many cases at an early stage, which allows for more treatment options and better outcomes.

Julia Devonish, MD, PhD, is the Medical Director for Mobile Screening at Roswell Park. She is passionate about breaking down barriers to healthcare access, particularly cancer screenings in underserved neighborhoods. “We’ve established a model with EDDY. We know that we can do mobile lung cancer screenings in our communities and we know that we have saved lives by getting people access to cancer care earlier.”

Now there’s a new mobile screening center in town to make even more cancer screenings as comfortable and stress free as possible so that people can feel at ease while taking care of their health. “We’re excited to bring EDDY 2 to the community—a new mobile screening center that builds on the success of its predecessor,” Dr. Devonish says. “It offers both breast and prostate cancer screening, with mammograms as the cornerstone for detecting breast cancer, and just simple blood test for prostate cancer. Just a simple blood test! This means that the dreaded digital rectal exam is no longer needed.”

ADDRESSING A REAL COMMUNITY NEED

Expanding the original EDDY’s proven success record to mammograms and testing for prostate cancer is something Dr. Devonish has dedicated her career to, especially among communities of color.

“The cancer burden in our people is real,” she says. “I am so happy that we can hopefully help diminish that. I really am driven by a future without cancer disparities. Truly. That’s my goal.” During her research fellowship at Roswell Park, Dr. Devonish started working closely with the Witness Project, a national effort to help increase cancer education and screening in Black communities. Breast cancer is more likely to be aggressive in Black women, who are also more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age.

“The breast cancer risk factors are different for Black versus white women,” she says. Getting that message out, and encouraging women to know their risk factors, including age and family history, can be helped by providing mobile access to mammography, without having to take time off work to drive to an appointment.

The same is true for prostate cancer: Black men are more likely to be diagnosed at a younger ages with later disease stages. There are other stigmas and misconceptions attached with prostate cancer screening, which typically involve both a blood test to detect the levels of prostate specific antigen, a type of protein, and a digital rectal exam. On the new mobile cancer screening center, people will be able to take a blood test and receive their results within a few days. Based on those results, Roswell Park experts will help coordinate any additional testing as needed.

DRIVEN BY A SINGULAR PURPOSE

“I want people to be more aware of their health, and not just aware but doing what they can to optimize it so they can live their best lives,” Dr. Devonish says. “I’m doing my best to make sure that we’re getting the highest quality care for everybody all of the time, but especially in this population we’re trying to reach.”

While the mobile lung cancer screening center has traveled across Western New York, initially the new mobile breast and prostate screening center will be more focused, in Buffalo and Niagara Falls to best address the cancer screening needs of those communities. Both men and women will be able to access potentially lifesaving tests in the same mobile unit addresses community needs determined by focus groups, she adds. The new mobile breast and prostate screening center offers the latest, state-of-the-art 3D mammography and lab testing tools available, Dr. Devonish says. As someone who’s lost many loved ones to cancer, she wants to help keep families together and cancer-free.

While age 40 is the standard given for women at average risk of developing breast cancer, women of color might need to be screened earlier, based on family history. All women should be starting conversations about breast cancer risk at age 25. For prostate cancer, Dr. Devonish stresses that Black men are considered at higher risk and should have their first blood test at age 40, instead of 45; if there’s a family history of prostate cancer, their initial test should be even sooner. Appointments are currently open for both EDDY mobile screening labs; more information is available at www.roswellpark.org/EDDY.