In line with the College of Radiology’s (CoR) maxim to elevate and maintain the quality of mammograms and their interpretation, the annual breast meeting primarily to provide Malaysian radiologists, radiographers and medical physicists an opportunity to update, get training support and network, went East, specifically to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, East Malaysia. The seminar was held at the Le Meridien Hotel there.

The President of the CoR, Prof Dato’ Dr Humairah Samad-Cheung, in her message, emphasised the need to perform breast imaging well, as it would have far-reaching community benefits. In order to achieve these objectives, there was a need to continuously monitor and improve standards to ensure that every small cancer is not missed at imaging. She said, “Even if this seminar leads to one less breast cancer being missed, it would have been worth the effort put in by the members of the Organising Committee.” The organising committee was chaired by Dr Shantini A. Arasaratnam, and the CoR collaborated with the Ministry of Health, Malaysia and the Malaysian Society of Radiographers.

The Faculty comprised speakers from Malaysia (Dr Siti Fathimah Abbas, Pushpa Thevi Rajendran, Ravi Chanthriga Eturajulu, Dr Noriah Jamal, Dr Vijayalakshmi Krishnapillai, Prof Dr Zulfiqar Md Annuar, Dr Patricia Alison Gomez, Dr Flora Chong Li Tze and Prof Dato’ Dr Humairah Samad Chueng) as well as foreign counterparts from Hong Kong (Dr Gary Tse), Indonesia (Dr Liem Sik Jauw, Tineke De Ronde) and Singapore (Dr Teh Hui Seong). There was also participation from the local breast cancer support society, the Kinabalu Pink Ribbon, where 2 of their members talked about the Survivor’s Experience.

There was a lunch symposium on the first day which was sponsored by Technology Malaysia Associate Sdn Bhd on “The Role of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis in reducing the recall rate in breast cancer screening for the Asian Population.”

Although only about 100 participants were expected, the final turn out was a whopping 190! Each Hospital for the radiographers’ hands-on workshop was packed with 55 participants. They were held in Hospital Likas and Hospital Queen Elizabeth II. The speakers were treated to a seafood dinner at Kampung Nelayan Seafood Restaurant and also took the Mari Mari Cultural Village Tour.

The CoR wishes to thank our sponsors Technology Medical Associate (main sponsor), Siemens, Delta Medisains, Salvo Healthcare and Medivice Asia. Kinabalu Pink Ribbon also had a table display to complete the picture, which is to support those who have been diagnosed with breast cancer or are living with cancer.