Banner MD Anderson’s 3D Mobile Mammography Unit Unveiled

Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center recently celebrated the unveiling of The BIG Pink Bus, a mobile mammography unit hitting Valley streets that will offer 3D mammogram screenings to more than 4,000 women annually, particularly those in outlying areas.

Even though mammograms remain the only screening test proven to reduce breast cancer deaths through early detection, 32 percent of women with health insurance and 69 percent of those without health insurance do not get annual mammograms. Inconvenience is a frequent barrier, as women often cite personal and professional obligations, the long distance to an imaging site, or lack of transportation as reasons they might skip this important screening.

Funded by generous donors to the Banner Health Foundation, including the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation, Bashas’ Family of Stores, Copper State Bolt & Nut Co. and the Board of Visitors Care Card program, The BIG Pink Bus will offer the same 3D mammography technology available at Banner MD Anderson’s brick-and-mortar facilities. The 3D mammogram images — the gold standard in early breast cancer detection — will be interpreted by Banner MD Anderson’s team of specialist breast imaging radiologists. Additionally, patients will have ready access to Banner MD Anderson’s comprehensive breast cancer program if further testing or treatment is needed.

“Scheduling a yearly mammogram screening is one of the easiest and most effective tools for treating breast cancer,” said Vilert Loving, M.D., chief of breast imaging and co-director of the Comprehensive Breast Cancer Program at Banner MD Anderson. “The mobile mammography unit will bring Banner MD Anderson’s comprehensive breast program and its breast cancer experts right to people’s doorstep. We are so proud to make healthcare easier for the Phoenix metropolitan population.”

For more behind this Frontdoor, visit bannerhealthfoundation.org.