What’s happening?

Arcadia resident and radiologist Dr. Belinda Barclay-White said her goal is to make the breast cancer exam and treatment as swift and immediate as possible. She also is piloting a relatively new technology.

Barclay-White moved to the U.S. in 1976 from London. She and her husband Ron settled in Arcadia two years later and raised their family.

After fulfilling her radiology residency at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix in 1996, Barclay-White said she opened her own practice so she could specialize in one-on-one diagnosis of breast-related disease. She opened Breastnet, a breast care facility in Scottsdale, in 1998.

Breastnet has helped her to develop a “kinder way of delivering breast care,” she said.

Informing the patients of how and why she makes a diagnosis makes the process less frightening, she said.

Barclay-White invites her patients into her office to observe the test results with her the same day she conducts the breast exam. When needed, she performs biopsies the same day. It’s about reducing time and stress for the patient, she said.

Barclay-White owns one of eight facilities in the country, and is the only radiologist in Arizona, using the SonoCiné Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound.
SonoCiné is an FDA-approved breast cancer screening tool that accompanies a mammography.

The machine does a computer-guided scan of sound waves, or ultrasound that permits the technician to focus on the high-resolution screen the entire time as all areas of the breast are scanned.

The SonoCiné scan produces 2,000-5,000 images linked together to produce a movie that can zoom in on a given area.

“We’ve known for a long time ultrasound is effective, but we’ve only used it in a diagnostic setting,” Barclay-White said.

The downside is that SonoCiné is less effective in fatty or large breasts (DD cup size or bigger). Also, the technology is not covered by insurance because it has only been around since 2000. The cost of the assessment is $300.

The upside is that SonoCiné is successful in detecting small cancers in women with dense breast tissue and implants - conditions that obscure the results and hinder the detection of cancer with other detection equipment.

Deborah Harris was referred to Barclay-White in 2005 after several other radiologists couldn’t figure out what a mass in her breast was. Harris had a lumpectomy eight years earlier.

“Is there anybody in the city who could look at this and tell me if this is cancer or not?” she said she wondered.

Barclay-White looked at the previous test results and told Harris there was a 50-50 chance the mass could be cancer. A biopsy discovered it was a benign tumor.
Continuing checkups with Barclay-White, Harris got a SonoCiné exam last September.

Two small areas were found and biopsied the same day. She received the pathology results in the doctor’s office the next day. She had stage one cancer.

“They were so small they probably wouldn’t have shown up (on another test) for two years,” Harris said.

She was diagnosed and treated within a month.

“We are still searching for better and better ways to do it (breast cancer exams),” Barclay-White said.

“And that will go on forever.”

Check out last month's people profile, Dr. Brad Butler