The Key: Early Detection
The key to finding breast cancer is early detection, and the key to early detection is screening: looking for cancer in women who have no symptoms of disease. The best available tool is a regular screening mammogram-- x-ray of the breast--coupled with a clinical breast exam --by a doctor or nurse.
What is a screening mammogram?
A mammogram is an x-ray of the breast. Cancers that are found on mammograms but that cannot be felt (nonpalpable cancers) usually are smaller than cancers that can be felt, and they are less likely to have spread.
Mammography is not foolproof. Some breast changes, including lumps that can be felt, do not show up on a mammogram. Changes can be especially difficult to spot in the dense, glandular breasts of younger women. This is why women of all ages should have their breasts examined every year by a physician or trained health professional.
What Are the Benefits of Screening Mammography?
High-quality mammography is the most effective tool now available to detect breast cancer early, before symptoms appear--often before a breast lump can even be felt. Regularly scheduled mammograms can decrease a woman's chance of dying from breast cancer. For some women, early detection may prevent the need to remove the entire breast or receive chemotherapy.
Who is at average risk for breast cancer?
Simply being a woman and getting older puts you at average risk for developing breast cancer. The older you are, the greater your chance of getting breast cancer. No woman should consider herself too old to need regular screening mammograms.
How are mammograms performed?
Mammography is a simple procedure. It uses a "dedicated" x-ray machine specifically designed for x-raying the breast and used only for that purpose (in contrast to machines used to take x-rays of the bones or other parts of the body). The standard screening exam includes two views of each breast, one from above and one angled from the side. A registered technologist places the breast between two flat plastic plates. The two plates are then pressed together. The idea is to flatten the breast as much as possible; spreading the tissue out makes any abnormal details easier to spot with a minimum of radiation. The technologist takes the x-ray, then repeats the procedure for the next view. The pressure from the plates may be uncomfortable, or even somewhat painful. It helps to remember that each x-ray takes less than one minute--and it could save your life. It also helps to schedule mammography just after your period, when your breasts are least likely to be tender, or at the same time each year, if you no longer have your period.
What other techniques are used for detecting breast cancer?
Most professional medical organizations recommend that a woman have periodic breast exams by a doctor or nurse along with getting regular screening mammograms. This is called a clinical breast exam. You may find it convenient to schedule a breast exam during your routine physical.
A lump is generally the size of a pea before a skilled examiner can detect it. Lumps that are soft, round, and smooth tend not to be cancerous. An irregular, hard lump that feels firmly anchored within the breast tissue is more likely to be a cancer. However, these are general observations, not hard and fast rules.
A breast exam by a doctor or nurse can find some cancers missed by mammography, even very small ones. In addition to the skill and carefulness of the examiner, the success of a physical exam can be influenced by your monthly cycle and by the size of your breast, as well as by the size and location of the lump itself. Lumps are harder to find in a large breast.
What is ultrasound?
Currently, mammography and breast exams by the doctor or nurse are the most common and useful techniques for finding breast cancer early. Other methods such as ultrasound may be helpful in clarifying the diagnosis for women who have suspicious breast changes. Ultrasound works by sending high-frequency sound waves into the breast. The pattern of echoes from these sound waves is converted into an image (sonogram) of the breast's interior. Ultrasound, which is painless and harmless, can distinguish between tumors that are solid and cysts, which are filled with fluid. Sonograms of the breast can also help radiologists to evaluate some lumps that can be felt but are hard to see on a mammogram, especially in the dense breasts of young women. Unlike mammography, ultrasound cannot detect the microcalcifications that sometimes indicate cancer, nor does it pick up small tumors.
Source: National Cancer Institute
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