Breast cancer and mammograms: 3 key questions women of all ages should ask before their scans

October is Breast Most cancers Consciousness Month — a time when the illness affecting a whole lot of 1000’s of American ladies annually will get renewed consideration.

American ladies have a one in eight probability (12.9%) of creating breast most cancers throughout their lifetimes, whereas American males have a one in 800 probability (0.13%), based on the Nationwide Institutes of Well being’s Nationwide Most cancers Institute.  

Annually about 264,000 ladies are recognized with breast most cancers, and roughly 42,000 ladies die of the illness, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) stories. (About 2,400 males are recognized with breast most cancers annually and a few 500 males die from it yearly, CDC information exhibits.)

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Since breast most cancers is extra generally present in ladies aged 40 and up, medical professionals and organizations suggest routine breast most cancers screenings for middle-aged and senior ladies. This consists of mammograms — a breast most cancers screening technique that is led to age-based debate amongst consultants.

There are additionally vital breast most cancers danger elements to notice, say consultants. 

“Having one first-degree relative with breast most cancers doubles a girl’s danger,” Dr. Kathleen Kiernan Harnden, director of breast oncology on the Inova Schar Most cancers Institute in Annandale, Virginia, advised Fox Information Digital.

Different high-risk elements embrace a household historical past of breast most cancers, a identified genetic mutation or a earlier breast biopsy, based on Harnden.

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Given this, Harnden mentioned there are three questions all ladies ought to ask themselves earlier than they request a mammogram session or appointment: 

1. Do I’ve an elevated danger of breast most cancers? 

2. How can I cut back my danger for breast most cancers? 

3. Will my mammogram be three-dimensional (3D) or two-dimensional (2D)?

Harnden recommends 3D mammography over 2D as a result of a number of photos are taken from totally different angles, which can make breast tissue evaluation clearer.

Here is a deeper dive into these matters.

What’s breast most cancers?

About one in eight ladies will develop breast most cancers of their lifetime, based on the Nationwide Most cancers Institute.
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Breast most cancers is a illness that happens in breast tissue when cells within the breast “change and develop uncontrolled,” based on MedlinePlus, a web based well being info service produced by the U.S. Nationwide Library of Drugs.

The cells that trigger breast most cancers often type a tumor — an irregular mass of tissue.

Most cancers cells and cancerous tumors (malignant) are harmful as a result of they’ll disrupt organ capabilities and kill wholesome cells if left to unfold, which might trigger severe hurt or demise if left untreated, based on a report from MedicalNewsToday, a medical information web site owned by Healthline Media.

Breast most cancers is the second most typical most cancers in ladies after pores and skin most cancers, says the Nationwide Most cancers Institute.

Breast most cancers diagnoses are extraordinarily uncommon in teenagers. Teen women between ages 15 and 19 have an incidence price of 0.2 per 100,000, the CDC signifies.

Ladies youthful than 15 don’t have a calculated breast most cancers incidence price as a result of the CDC suppresses information when there are fewer than 16 instances, which the company notes on its “United States Most cancers Statistics: Knowledge Visualizations” webpage.

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Breast most cancers incidence charges steadily improve with age, however it stays low for ladies beneath age 40, CDC information exhibits.

Whereas not all consultants agree on whether or not ladies beneath age 40 ought to obtain mammograms, younger ladies of their 20s and 30s have been recognized with breast most cancers, based on incidence information printed by the CDC, which dates again to 2019.

The incidence price of breast most cancers for middle-aged ladies steadily will increase each 4 years.

Girls between the ages of 20 and 24 have a breast most cancers incidence price of 1.8 per 100,000. 

The incidence price jumps to 10.5 per 1000,000 ladies, 30.1 per 100,000 ladies and 64.8 per 100,000 ladies, for ladies ages 25 to 29, 30 to 34 and 35 to 39, respectively.

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Breast most cancers incidence charges spike from ages 40 to 74, the CDC’s information exhibits.

The incidence price for middle-aged ladies steadily will increase each 4 years. For instance, ladies ages 40 to 44 have a breast most cancers incidence price of 131.7 per 100,000 ladies whereas ladies ages 55 to 59 have a breast most cancers incidence price of 273.3 per 100,000 ladies.

Breast most cancers diagnoses are much more widespread in senior ladies. The CDC’s information present ladies from age 60 to 64 have a breast most cancers incidence price of 339.8 per 100,000 ladies whereas ladies from age 65 to 69 have a breast most cancers incidence price of 425.2 per 100,000 ladies and ladies from age 70 to 74 have a breast most cancers incidence price of 475.8 per 100,000 ladies — the best of any age group.

Declines in breast most cancers incidence charges begin to occur after age 75, based on the CDC.

What’s a mammogram? 

Mammography is a typical breast most cancers screening technique that makes use of radiation to detect bodily abnormalities in breast tissue.
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Mammograms are an X-ray process that helps medical doctors detect early indicators of breast most cancers, based on the CDC.

The machines used to conduct mammograms have plastic plates that flatten breasts, so X-ray photos will be taken and analyzed by radiologists for abnormalities.

Mammogram outcomes are sometimes reported in a number of weeks, based on the CDC.

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Girls with dense breasts have the next probability of getting breast most cancers, the well being company stories, however some ladies have higher-density breasts in the event that they’re youthful in age, pregnant or breastfeeding, taking hormone alternative remedy or have a decrease physique weight.

“Dense tissue can disguise cancers,” the CDC wrote in a “What Does It Imply to Have Dense Breasts?” report.

“Fibrous and glandular tissue appears white on a mammogram. So does a attainable tumor,” the CDC continued. “As a result of it’s arduous to inform the distinction between a tumor and dense breast tissue on a mammogram, a small tumor could also be missed.”

Mammograms use X-ray imaging to detect breast most cancers.
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Dr. Mona Jhaveri, most cancers researcher and founding father of Music Beats Most cancers, a artistic nonprofit group in Washington, D.C., advised Fox Information Digital that dense breast tissue happens in half of all ladies ages 40 and up.

“It is well-known that detecting most cancers lesions in ladies with dense breast tissue will be tough,” Jhaveri mentioned. “Mammography is the usual of look after breast most cancers screening, [but] it definitely has its dangers and limitations.”

Delaying a breast most cancers prognosis has the next danger than radiation publicity.

Potential dangers related to mammography screening embrace overdiagnosis, false positives, anxiousness and radiation harm, based on a research printed within the Nationwide Library of Drugs.

The U.S. Preventive Providers Process Pressure — an unbiased, volunteer panel of nationwide consultants in illness prevention — says ladies who place the next worth on the potential good thing about mammography over potential hurt can select to start breast most cancers screening as soon as each two years between ages 40 and 49 years. 

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The CDC says comparable breast screening pointers have been issued to ladies ages 40 to 49 with “common danger” by the American Most cancers Society, American Faculty of Physicians, American Faculty of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Faculty of Radiology, American Faculty of Physicians and American Academy of Household Physicians.

Some mammogram machines produce 2D photos, whereas some produce 3D photos.
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Three out of the six aforementioned most cancers organizations suggest annual mammograms for involved ladies who’re between the ages of 40 and 49, in the event that they so select.

Girls who’re age 50 and older are typically suggested to get mammograms achieved yearly or bi-annually.

All most cancers organizations advise ladies to talk with a well being care supplier to weigh the potential advantages and dangers of getting a mammogram.

Age and household historical past of most cancers are two elements which can be considered throughout mammogram consultations, the CDC stories.

What ought to about mammogram radiation?

Mammogram machines emit radiation to create X-ray imagery, however this does not make the strategy harmful.
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Dr. Jessica Shepherd, a Dallas-based OB-GYN who’s chief medical officer at Verywell Well being, a well being info web site, mentioned most breast most cancers instances are recognized after age 50, which is why mammograms are often achieved for ladies who’re nearer to that age marker.

“The dose of radiation from a mammogram is fairly low and really hardly ever poses a danger, making them a secure diagnostic device, and sometimes somebody solely wants a mammogram every year. Due to this fact there isn’t a danger of an excessive amount of radiation publicity,” Shepherd advised Fox Information Digital.

She famous that there’s a “small hyperlink to an elevated danger of breast most cancers over time as a consequence of [mammogram] frequency and likewise dimension of the breasts,” however “general this improve in danger may be very small.” 

Delaying a breast most cancers prognosis has the next danger than radiation publicity, Shepherd mentioned.

“When caught early, breast most cancers is extremely treatable, and mammograms will be extremely useful in these instances,” Shepherd continued. “If [breast cancer is] allowed to advance, a affected person could need to obtain extra complicated remedy equivalent to surgical procedure or chemo, which is far more invasive than radiation publicity from a mammogram.”

Breast most cancers screening alternate options

Breast ultrasound examinations will be achieved to diagnose potential breast tumors.
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Different breast most cancers screening strategies exist for ladies who aren’t eligible or don’t need to bear a mammogram.

The CDC lists breast ultrasounds, breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scientific breast examinations and self-checks as attainable screenings for breast most cancers.

Ultrasounds generate photos (AKA sonograms) utilizing sound waves whereas MRIs are computerized physique scans that generate photos utilizing magnets.

Self-examinations will be achieved to test for early indicators of breast most cancers.
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Medical breast exams are carried out by a physician or nurse. Throughout exams, medical professionals test for irregular lumps or different bodily detectable modifications in breast tissue by hand.

Girls can test their breasts for widespread breast most cancers signs, together with lumps, ache and modifications in dimension.

“It’s best to report any modifications that you simply discover to your physician or well being care supplier,” the CDC wrote in a “What Is Breast Most cancers Screening?” information. 

“Having a scientific breast examination or doing a breast self-exam has not been discovered to decrease the chance of dying from breast most cancers,” the CDC additionally mentioned.