Paula Gordon

Last updated
Paula Gordon
NationalityCanadian
OccupationRadiologist
TitleClinical Professor of Radiology
AwardsOrder of Canada (2023), Order of British Columbia (2013)
Academic work
Institutions University of British Columbia
Notable ideasUse of ultrasound for breast cancer screening

Paula Gordon is a Canadian radiologist and medical researcher specializing in breast cancer. She is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of British Columbia.

Contents

Gordon is best known academically for her 1995 paper in The Cancer Journal, demonstrating for the first time that ultrasound could be used to find cancers missed on mammograms in women with dense breasts. Her paper attracted the attention of cancer researchers and got cited in more than 200 academic works. [1] [2]

In addition to research and teaching work, she was appointed to a number of positions in public health. She has been the Chair of the Early Detection Committee of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (BC/Yukon Division), Chair of the Academic Committee of the Screening Mammography Program of British Columbia, and co-chair of the Workforce Committee of the Provincial Breast Health Strategy. She has also been a member of the Steering and Prevention Committees of the Provincial Breast Health Strategy, the Provincial Radiology Expert Committee, the Provincial Screening Policy Review Committee and the BC Breast Imaging Services Working Group. [3] As of 2023, she is a member of the board of the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging, of which she is also a founding member. [4]

In her public education role, she advocates for early screening of breast cancer using appropriate techniques, favouring yearly examinations for women exposed to a greater risk of developing breast cancer (such as dense breasts and Ashkenazi) as early as 40 years old. [3] [5]

She published some 35 articles on medical journals and gave some 300 lectures to medical professionals. [3]

She volunteers as Medical Advisor to Dense Breasts Canada and DenseBreast-Info.org, and as Director on the Board of the Canucks for Kids Fund. [3]

Honours

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radiology</span> Branch of Medicine

Radiology is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography, but today it includes all imaging modalities, including those that use no ionizing electromagnetic radiation, as well as others that do, such as computed tomography (CT), fluoroscopy, and nuclear medicine including positron emission tomography (PET). Interventional radiology is the performance of usually minimally invasive medical procedures with the guidance of imaging technologies such as those mentioned above.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mammography</span> Process of using low-energy X-rays to examine the human breast for diagnosis and screening

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The American College of Radiology (ACR), founded in 1923, is a professional medical society representing nearly 40,000 diagnostic radiologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists.

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BI-RADS is an acronym for Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System, a quality assurance tool originally designed for use with mammography. The system is a collaborative effort of many health groups but is published and trademarked by the American College of Radiology (ACR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breast cancer screening</span> Medical screening of asymptomatic, healthy women for breast cancer

Breast cancer screening is the medical screening of asymptomatic, apparently healthy women for breast cancer in an attempt to achieve an earlier diagnosis. The assumption is that early detection will improve outcomes. A number of screening tests have been employed, including clinical and self breast exams, mammography, genetic screening, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molecular breast imaging</span>

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Daniel B. Kopans, MD, FACR is a radiologist specializing in mammography and other forms of breast imaging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breast ultrasound</span> Type of medical imaging

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Thomas M. Kolb is an American radiologist specializing in the detection and diagnosis of breast cancer in young, predominantly high-risk premenopausal women. He has served as an assistant clinical professor of Radiology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1994–2010. Kolb is double board certified, having received his training in pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, and in diagnostic radiology at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moira Stilwell</span> Canadian politician

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triple test score</span>

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Automated whole-breast ultrasound (AWBU) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to obtain volumetric ultrasound data of the entire breast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breast imaging</span>

In medicine, breast imaging is a sub-speciality of diagnostic radiology that involves imaging of the breasts for screening or diagnostic purposes. There are various methods of breast imaging using a variety of technologies as described in detail below. Traditional screening and diagnostic mammography uses x-ray technology and has been the mainstay of breast imaging for many decades. Breast tomosynthesis is a relatively new digital x-ray mammography technique that produces multiple image slices of the breast similar to, but distinct from, computed tomography (CT). Xeromammography and galactography are somewhat outdated technologies that also use x-ray technology and are now used infrequently in the detection of breast cancer. Breast ultrasound is another technology employed in diagnosis and screening that can help differentiate between fluid filled and solid lesions, an important factor to determine if a lesion may be cancerous. Breast MRI is a technology typically reserved for high-risk patients and patients recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Lastly, scintimammography is used in a subgroup of patients who have abnormal mammograms or whose screening is not reliable on the basis of using traditional mammography or ultrasound.

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HB 2102, also known as "Henda's Law", is a breast density (BD) notification law approved in 2011 by the FDA that mammography patients be provided educational materials on dense breast tissue can hide abnormalities, including breast cancer, from traditional screening. Henda's Law aims to promote patient–doctor discussion as well as reduce the rate of false negatives, as mammography may not detect abnormalities in dense breasts.

Dense breast tissue, also known as dense breasts, is a condition of the breasts where a higher proportion of the breasts are made up of glandular tissue and fibrous tissue than fatty tissue. Around 40–50% of women have dense breast tissue and one of the main medical components of the condition is that mammograms are unable to differentiate tumorous tissue from the surrounding dense tissue. This increases the risk of late diagnosis of breast cancer in women with dense breast tissue. Additionally, women with such tissue have a higher likelihood of developing breast cancer in general, though the reasons for this are poorly understood.

Beryl Rice Benacerraf was an American radiologist and professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology and radiology at Harvard Medical School. She was a pioneer in the use of prenatal ultrasound to diagnose fetal abnormalities, including Down syndrome. In 2021, she was recognized as a "Giant in Obstetrics and Gynecology" by the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

References

  1. 1 2 "Order of Canada appointees – June 2023". The Governor General of Canada. June 30, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  2. Gordon, Paula; Goldenberg, Larry (15 August 1995). "Malignant breast masses detected only by ultrasound. A retrospective review". Cancer. 76 (4): 626–630. doi:10.1002/1097-0142(19950815)76:4<626::AID-CNCR2820760413>3.0.CO;2-Z. PMID   8625156. S2CID   29951255 via Wiley.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dr. Paula Gordon MD". University of British Columbia. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  4. "Board and Executive". Canadian Society of Breast Imaging. 17 October 2022. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  5. Bessner, Ellin (8 March 2023). "This doctor wants Ashkenazi women to help lobby for breast cancer screening at age 40". Canadian Jewish news. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  6. "Killam, teaching + service winners". The University of British Columbia. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  7. "Members of the Order of British Columbia: F–H". Government of British Columbia. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.