EUSOMA
Abstract: The European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA) is the only European multidisciplinary society dedicated to breast cancer. EUSOMA has defined the requirements for a Breast Centre. Basic requirements are: at least 150 new breast cancer cases per year, provision of all services necessary from genetics and prevention, through diagnosis and treatment of primary tumour, follow-up, care of advanced disease, and palliation. The Breast Centre must have a dedicated team of specialists who regularly meet in the multidisciplinary meeting. EUSOMA also defined a set of Quality Indicators (QIs) to allow standardized auditing and quality assurance. EUSOMA developed a voluntary certification process to evaluate Breast Centre compliance with EUSOMA requirements and QIs. This process has now become an accredited scheme run by a dedicated organization (www.breastcentrescertification.com). The Breast Centre certification scheme is focused on real data, essential clinical skills, structure, and procedure, aiming at improving the quality of care. Breast Centres undergoing certification send data to the EUSOMA data warehouse. The EUSOMA data centre performs an analysis and issues a report showing the performances of the selected EUSOMA QIs. Thanks to the availability of these data, Certified Breast Centres under the umbrella of EUSOMA collectively publish scientific papers on selected topics.