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Digital Mammography Boosts Chances of Spoting Malignancies

Last year, in the United States, doctors diagnosed an estimated 212,920 new cases of breast cancer, and about 41,000 women are expected to die from the disease. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), only lung cancer accounts for more cancer deaths in women. And yet, again according to the ACS, since 1990 the death rate for breast cancer has been declining by 2.3 percent annually.

A Technological Triumph

The studies showing this decline in breast cancer mortality were based on conventional X-ray-film mammography. But, undeniably, advances such as digital mammography help to explain why those mortality rates are dropping year after year. And thanks to such improvements in early detection, digital mammography is expected to help further lower the death rate. Younger women with dense breast tissue, which makes it harder to detect tumors, particularly benefit from the new technology.

Advantages and Options

The computer-based technique allows for more digital manipulation of a breast X-ray exam than is possible with film mammography alone. Other advantages include the ease of storing and retrieving images. But more importantly, the advent of such technologies means even the toughest-todiagnose patients can now receive a lifesaving breast cancer screening. However, even conventional film mammography offers benefits that are undeniable, and women are urged to use the less expensive option if cost is a factor.

Breast cancer is a very treatable disease, particularly when it’s caught early. Still, nearly half of women age 40 and older don’t receive annual mammograms, as recommended by the ACS.

Back to Basics

Women between 20 and 39 years of age are urged to receive a clinical breast examination every three years, as well as giving themselves a monthly breast selfexamination. In a breast self-exam, the woman feels for lumps, and looks for visual changes as well, such as dimpling, puckering of the skin, or a pulling-in of the nipple.

The ACS considers self-examinations optional and urges women instead to stick to a regular clinical screening schedule. Clinical exams are important because doctors are able to pick up on signs and signals that may not be obvious to the average woman. But self-examination is also important. Women are their own first line of defense in the war against breast cancer. Experts encourage breast self-exams, but urge women to remember they’re not a replacement for a breast exam by a professional health provider.