Breast Cancer Screening Can Save Lives
10/8/2018
Alyssa “Florida” Gallegos, CNM
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month—the perfect time to discuss the importance of mammography. Because breast cancer is often detectable in its early stages when there’s a good chance for a cure, screening is essential to early detection. Most significantly, mammography can identify tumors even before they can be felt.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States. In 2012 (the most recent year numbers are available), 224,147 women in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 41,150 women died from the disease.
The American College of Radiology recommends annual mammograms starting at age 40, with no upper age limit as long as the woman is in good health. Different guidelines apply to women at higher risk. A screening mammogram can help detect breast cancer in its earliest and most treatable stages.
If a woman is at high risk for developing breast cancer, her doctor may recommend screening at a younger age, along with additional imaging studies. Talk with your doctor about your history and whether you should have other tests or start testing at an earlier age.
Screening and Diagnostic Mammography
A conventional screening mammogram is a low-dose X-ray test that creates images of breast tissue doctors can check for lesions or other abnormalities. The x-ray images make it possible to detect tumors that cannot be felt, and can find tiny deposits of calcium called microcalcifications that sometimes indicate the presence of breast cancer.
A mammogram used to check for breast cancer after a lump or other sign or symptom of the disease is called a diagnostic mammogram. Besides a lump, signs of breast cancer can include breast pain, thickening of the skin of the breast, nipple discharge, or a change in breast size or shape; however, these signs may also be signs of benign or non-cancerous breast conditions.
Digital Mammography
While digital imaging feels almost identical to conventional mammography, its benefits are a shorter exam time than traditional mammograms, and less chance that patients will be called back for repeat exams.
Digital images tend to provide doctors with better visibility of the breast, chest wall and dense breast tissue. Through computer-aided technology, radiologists are able to enhance certain areas of the digital images to get a more precise picture of a patient’s condition. The digital images can also be stored electronically, and later retrieved to share with other doctors if needed in the future.
Through the Affordable Care Act, all Marketplace health plans and many other private plans must cover breast cancer mammography screenings every 1 to 2 years for women over 40 without charging a copayment or coinsurance. Women should contact their mammography facility or health insurance company for confirmation. In addition, Medicare pays for annual screening mammograms for all female Medicare beneficiaries age 40 or older.
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