Breast cancer is the presence of abnormal transformed cells that can harm healthy tissues. It is diagnosed in more than 192,000 women and almost 2,000 men each year, according to the National Cancer Institute. Screening for breast cancer involves various detection techniques with the goal of catching cancer in the early stages.
Physical Examination
A woman herself or a health care provider can perform a physical breast examination. A clinical breast examination, performed by a health care provider, happens during a yearly physical or a gynecological examination. The doctor or nurse will also look for other abnormal changes such as inversion of the nipple, scaly skin or dimpling of the skin. Breast self-examinations involve systematically feeling one's own breasts for any changes, including lumps.
Mammography
X-rays are used in mammography to analyze the density of breast tissue. Mammograms can detect tumors that cannot be felt, as well as small deposits of calcium, which can be indicative of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. Technicians usually take two different X-ray images of each breast; then those are analyzed by a doctor. Women who are at least 40 years old should have a mammogram every one or two years. Doctors may advise women who are at a higher risk for developing breast cancer to have mammograms before age 40. Women who have a mutation in certain genes which research shows are often associated with breast cancer, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2, or who have a family member who has had breast cancer are at a greater risk for having breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
Ultrasonography
Ultrasonography is a detection method in which sound waves are used to analyze the breast tissue for suspicious lumps. A computer monitors the way the sound waves bounce off the tissue and converts that into an image on a monitor. The American Cancer Society notes that sometimes ultrasonography is used as a back-up screening tool in addition to mammography, especially for women with dense breast tissue. While ultrasonography can improve the detection of cancer, it is usually not used instead of mammography.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Women with cancer in one breast are at an elevated risk for developing cancer in the other breast. Because of this increased risk, it is critical to catch cancer in the second breast as soon as possible, should it occur. A research study, published in the "New England Journal of Medicine" in March 2007 found that magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, has been shown to be effective in the early detection of breast cancer in one breast, after women had cancer diagnosed in the other breast. Data from this study also indicated that MRI could detect cancer in a breast when mammography or a clinical breast examination had determined it was cancer-free.
References
- National Cancer Institute: Breast Cancer
- National Cancer Institute: Mammograms
- American Cancer Society: Breast Cancer: Early Detection
- "New England Journal of Medicine"; MRI Evaluation of the Contralateral Breast in Women with Recently Diagnosed Breast Cancer; Constance D. Lehman, MD, PhD; March 2007
