Breast Cancer Screening

Performing monthly self-exams is an important way to catch breast cancer before it develops into a high stage condition that could affect other parts of your body. Breast cancer screening is also an important step to take because it can detect early signs of breast cancer before you experience any significant symptoms.  Or, in other words, regular breast cancer screening can help identify breast cancer in its early stages before the individual would have realized on their own that the condition existed and needed attention.

Mammogram Breast Cancer Screening

Mammograms are currently the most popular form of breast cancer screening. This breast cancer screening technique uses low doses of X-rays to locate microcalcifications or masses in the breasts. Finding a mass does not necessarily mean that the patient has cancer, though. Many masses – or lumps – can prove to be benign tissue.  Further diagnostic tests should follow the breast cancer screening to determine whether the mass is cancerous. 

Regular Breast Cancer Screening

The advantage of breast cancer screening is that it can detect potentially cancerous masses before you exhibit any symptoms. This technique is most effective when women receive the breast cancer screenings annually. Since the screening is used before you show any symptoms, it needs to be done regularly to catch developments in early stages before the cancer can spread to other parts of the body.

The Advantages of Breast Cancer Screening

The biggest advantage of regular breast cancer screening is that it can recognize warning signs before you show any symptoms. A breast cancer screening might locate a mass before it is large enough to recognize through a self-exam. Women who begin treatment in the first stage of breast cancer almost always survive the disease by at least five years. The survival rate begins to decrease once the disease enters stage II. The earlier the cancer is caught, the higher the chance of survival is.

Breast cancer screening is also an important tool for women who have already had breast cancer. These women have a higher risk of getting cancer again. Using a mammogram can recognize early signs of development to prevent masses from developing into significant health problems.

The Disadvantages of Mammogram Breast Cancer Screening

While mammograms are currently the most used type of breast cancer screening, there are some disadvantages. Mammograms have a 10 percent false negative rate. That means the breast cancer screening will conclude that 10 percent of women do not have breast cancer when they actually do. This occurs because breast tissue obscures small lumps.

About seven percent of the mammogram breast cancer screenings result in false positives. While further tests should reveal the absence of cancer before treatment is started, the false positive can create feelings of intense anxiety in patients because they believe they have breast cancer.

Since mammogram breast cancer screenings use X-rays, they may increase one’s risk of developing cancer in the future. Exposure to radiation (such as X-rays) increases a person’s risk of developing cancer.  For this reason, prudence should be taken to only receive any type of X-ray when it is medically necessary.

Other Types of Breast Cancer Screening

While mammography is the most commonly preferred breast cancer screening method in current use, other techniques are available. Many doctors use ultrasounds to study masses that are located during the mammogram. Ductograms study nipple discharge, but they are typically used when the mammogram’s results are inconclusive or non-diagnostic.  Other screening techniques may also be available to you and should be discussed with your physician if you are concerned about X-ray exposure from regular mammograms.