PINE BLUFF, Ark. — It's now March, and not only is it a new month, but it is also National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. If you were to ask any doctor, they would tell you that early detection is key.
New technology at Jefferson Regional in Pine Bluff has been making cancer screenings a lot quicker and easier.
"The technology has changed so much and the accuracy of us being able to detect things is much better," said Dr. Charles Mabry, a general surgeon at Jefferson Regional.
Cancer screenings are of the utmost importance for Dr. Mabry.
He, like many other general surgeons, uses high-tech x-ray machines every day to help patients identify if something is cancerous.
"We really focus on breast cancer detection, lung cancer detection, and also colon and rectal cancer detection," Dr. Mabry explained.
Kathy Ross leads the hospital's oncology services, and when the center opened last summer, she said the hospital wanted an x-ray machine with faster detection.
"We think that our patients deserve this type of technology," said Ross.
Ross also explained that one of their newest x-ray machines has been a game changer.
She said normally after a CT scan, patients would have to wait about 40 minutes before doctors could see the results— now, with the latest machine, the results can come in just one minute.
"This is the only CT of its kind that's within the southeast region of the country," Ross said.
"Not only can we find cancer earlier, but we can actually cure these patients in a much higher percentage," Dr. Mabry said.
Dr. Mabry used the hospital's method for detecting breast cancer as an example.
"The radiation dosage is much less than it used to be and our sensitivity to detect early breast cancers is much better, [and] we can see breast cancers now we couldn't see 15 years ago," he described.
He said he's impressed with the latest advancement in medical technology, but also hopes this serves as a wake-up call for people who've been putting off a cancer screening.
"It's hard to do, you're busy, you got things to do. But if we can get the patient to get screened, we can find those cancers early and we can treat them early and cure them," he added.
This was funded by the Blue & You Foundation, and funding is available for other organizations in late 2023. Letters of intent opened on March 1 with a deadline of April 1.
Organizations can click here for more information on how to apply.