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Berita Menopause
(English) |
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Menopos
(Bahasa Malaysia) |
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 Berita Menopos - September 2005
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MAMMOGRAMS. YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
- What is a mammogram?
A mammogram can be either used for screening or for diagnostic purposes. A screening mammogram is an x-ray of the breast used to detect breast changes in women who have no signs or symptoms of breast cancer. With this mammogram, it is possible to detect microcalcifications (tiny deposits of calcium in the breast, which sometimes are a clue to the presence of breast cancer) or a tumor that cannot be felt. As a diagnostic tool, is used to diagnose unusual breast changes, such as a lump, pain, thickening, nipple discharge, or a change in breast size or shape.
- What is the best method of detecting breast cancer as early as possible?
A high-quality mammogram with a clinical breast exam (an exam done by a health care provider) is the most effective way to detect breast cancer early. Like any test, mammograms have both benefits and limitations. For example, some cancers cannot be detected by mammogram, but may be detectable by breast examination.
Checking one’s own breasts for lumps or other unusual changes is called breast self-exam (BSE). Studies so far have not shown that BSE alone reduces the numbers of deaths from breast cancer. BSE should not take the place of clinical breast exam and mammography. Mammograms can detect breast cancer that cannot be felt.
- What are the benefits of screening mammograms?
Several large studies conducted around the world show that breast cancer screening with mammograms reduces the number of deaths from breast cancer for women ages 40 to 69, especially those over age 50.
- What are some of the limitations of a mammogram?
- Finding cancer does not always mean saving lives—Even though mammography can detect tumors that cannot be felt, finding a small tumor does not always mean that a woman’s life will be saved. Mammography may not help a woman with a fast-growing or aggressive cancer that has already spread to other parts of her body before being detected.
- False Negatives—False negatives occur when mammograms appear normal even though breast cancer is present. Overall, mammograms miss up to 20 percent of the breast cancers that are present at the time of screening. False negatives occur more often in younger women than in older women because the dense breasts of younger women make breast cancers more difficult to spot in mammograms. As women age, their breasts usually become more fatty (and therefore less dense), and breast cancers become easier to detect with screening mammograms.
- False Positives—False positives occur when mammograms are read by a radiologist as abnormal, but no cancer is actually present. Although all abnormal mammograms should be followed up with additional testing (a diagnostic mammogram, ultrasound, and/or biopsy), most abnormalities turn out not to be cancer. False positives are more common in younger women, women who have had previous breast biopsies, women with a family history of breast cancer, and women who are taking estrogen (for example, hormone replacement therapy).
- What should women with breast implants do about screening mammograms?
Women with breast implants should continue to have mammograms. (A woman who had an implant following breast cancer surgery should ask her doctor whether a mammogram of the reconstructed breast is necessary.) It is important to inform the facility about breast implants when scheduling a mammogram. The technician and radiologist must be experienced in x-raying patients with breast implants. Implants can hide some breast tissue, making it more difficult for the radiologist to detect an abnormality on the mammogram. If the technologist performing the procedure is aware a woman has breast implants, steps can be taken to make sure that as much breast tissue as possible can be seen on the mammogram.
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