What Diagnostic Mammography Is
Mammography is a very important tool in the diagnosis of breast cancer. A mammogram uses a low dose x-ray to take an image of the breast while the breast is compressed. These images can be digital (on a computer) or on film. Digital and film mammography finds abnormalities that cannot be seen or felt by you or your doctor. Most of these abnormalities are not cancer, but they must be further evaluated by a radiologist.
While mammograms don't prevent breast cancer, they help a doctor discover it much earlier, while it is more treatable. A mammogram can identify a lump up to two years before it will become large enough for you to feel it. When breast cancer is found early, the five year survival rate is greater than 95%. Additionally, finding breast cancer early enables more women to select treatment options that allow them to keep their breasts.
Like many medical exams, mammograms are not 100% accurate, but they are the best imaging method available today for screening the population and finding breast cancer early. The American Cancer Society, The American Medical Association, and the American College of Radiology recommend that women age 40 and over have screening mammograms every year. Mammograms should be part of a comprehensive routine for checking for breast cancer that also includes monthly breast self examinations and annual clinical breast examinations.
Invision Sally Jobe offers diagnostic mammography at several of our outpatient centers in the South Denver
Metro area of Colorado.