CAMBRIDGE, England, December 2 /PRNewswire/ --

- BreastHealth UK Agreement With Spire Healthcare Offers New Diagnostic Tests

Women concerned about breast cancer will have access to a nationwide network of specialist BreastHealth UK (BHUK) clinics, following the announcement of a strategic collaboration between Spire Healthcare and BHUK.

BHUK offers comprehensive, personalised, private breast screening services. A unique offering is Digital Infrared BreastScan (DIB), which offers safe and non-invasive technology to support breast cancer screening in younger women. It discerns 'hot spots' in the breast, potentially caused by increased blood flow to cancerous tissue. DIB will be available in the UK exclusively from BHUK.

The first BHUK clinic was established 6 months ago at Spire Cambridge Lea Hospital. 30 new clinics based at Spire hospitals will be opened during the next 24 months.

Gordon Wishart, Consultant Breast Surgeon and Medical Director of BreastHealth UK, explains that screening for early detection of cancer has traditionally been done using mammography - low-dose x-ray examination - but that this is generally less sensitive, and not widely available, for women under 50.

DIB is non-invasive, sensitive, and is particularly useful for screening younger women who have denser breast tissue, which makes tumours more difficult to detect with mammography.

A recent study of DIB at the Department of Surgery, New York Presbyterian Hospital, showed that the technique could be useful in early diagnosis of breast cancer, particularly in younger women.[1] Around 1,000 images are taken over a four-minute examination.

Troels Jordansen, Director of BreastHealth UK, is very positive about the procedure's potential. It will be offered with specialist consultancy as part of a range of screening technologies.

Our aim is to provide peace of mind for women concerned about their breast health. With Digital Infrared BreastScan there is no exposure to radiation, so it can safely be used as part of ongoing monitoring.

Dr JJ de Gorter, Director of Clinical Services at Spire Healthcare comments: Giving women control over their breast screening programmes is an important move, and something we believe strongly in. We are delighted to be working with BreastHealth UK to offer women the widest choice of high quality screening, in our centres across the country.

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[1] Arora, N., Martins, D., Ruggerio, D., Tousimis, E., Swistel, A.J., Osborne, M.P., Simmons, R.M. Effectiveness of a noninvasive digital infrared thermal imaging system in the detection of breast cancer. The American Journal of Surgery (2008) 196: 523-526.

CAMBRIDGE, England, December 2 /PRNewswire/ --

For further details please visit: http://www.BreastHealthUK.com.

For further information please contact:, BreastHealth UK, Helen Goldrein/Rachel Holdsworth, Holdsworth Associates, +44(0)1954-202789, helen@holdsworth-associates.co.uk; Spire Healthcare, Danielle Kelly, Spire Healthcare, +44(0)207-421-9527, danielle.kelly@spirehealthcare.com