Mammograms Save Lives

Posted: Oct. 1, 2004

After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women in the United States. It is second only to lung cancer in cancer-related deaths.

What can you do?
If you are in your 40s or older, the National Cancer Institute advises getting a mammogram on a regular basis, every 1 to 2 years. A mammogram is an X-ray technique to visualize the internal structure of the breast.

There are two reasons mammograms are taken. Screening mammograms are done for women who have no symptoms of breast cancer. Diagnostic mammograms are done when a woman has symptoms of breast cancer or a breast lump. Diagnostic mammograms take longer than screening mammograms because more pictures of the breast are taken.

What are the benefits of getting mammograms?

• A mammogram can find breast cancer before a lump can be felt.
• A mammogram is the best method available today to detect breast cancer early. Early detection of the disease may allow more treatment options.

For women between the ages of 40 and 49, having a breast exam by a doctor and having a mammogram every 1 to 2 years may reduce your chances of dying from breast cancer by 17%.

For women age 50 and over, these screening methods may reduce your chances of dying from breast cancer by 30%.

What are the limitations of mammograms?
False negatives can happen. This means everything may look normal, but cancer is actually present. False negatives don't happen often. Younger women are more likely to have a false negative mammogram than are older women. This is because the breast tissue is denser, making cancer harder to spot.

False positives can happen. This is when the mammogram results look like cancer is present, even though it is not. False positives are more common in younger women than older women.

What is digital mammography?
Digital mammography is a technique for recording X-ray images in computer code instead of on X-ray film, as with conventional mammography. The images are displayed on a computer monitor and can be enhanced (lightened or darkened) before they are printed on film. Images can also be manipulated; the radiologist can magnify or zoom in on an area. From the patient’s perspective, the procedure for a mammogram with a digital system is the same as for conventional mammography.

What is computer-aided detection?
Computer-aided detection (CAD) involves the use of computers to bring suspicious areas on a mammogram to the radiologist’s attention. It is used after the radiologist has done the initial review of the mammogram.

Read about Advanced Healthcare’s Second Look CAD technology for reading mammograms. Visit www.medicalmoment.org/_content/signs/nov03/181558.asp

Source: National Cancer Institute

We Have Answers Do you have medical questions or need help finding a doctor? The experts at Columbia St. Mary's and Advanced Healthcare can help. Click here.