Today's reminder is courtesy of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Breast cancer screening and early detection play an important role in your health. Screening tests can help detect breast cancer at an early stage when the chances of survival are highest.
What is a Mamogram?
Mammography is a test that uses X-rays to create images of the breast. These images are called mammograms.
Today, mammography is done with digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT). DBT is also called “tomo” or 3-dimensional (3D) mammography. It takes multiple 2-dimensional (2D) digital images of the breast, and computer software combines the 2D images to create a 3D image.
A radiologist trained to read mammograms studies the images and looks for signs of breast cancer.
Since the images are viewed on a computer, they can be lightened or darkened, and certain sections can be enlarged and looked at more closely.
Accuracy
Screening mammography is good at finding breast cancer, especially in women ages 50 and older.
Overall, the sensitivity of mammography is about 87 percent. This means mammography correctly identifies about 87 percent of women who have breast cancer.
Sensitivity is higher in women over 50 than in younger women. It’s also higher in women with fatty breasts than in women with dense breasts
Scheduled your mammogram today. Visit the Susan G. Komen website to learn more.