Breast Cancer Screening - Mammography

Mammography

Mammography is a common screening method, since it is relatively fast and widely available in developed countries. Mammography is a type of radiography used on the breasts. It is typically used for two purposes: to aid in the diagnosis of a woman who is experiencing symptoms (called diagnostic mammography), and for medical screening of apparently healthy women (called screening mammography).

Mammography is not very useful in finding breast tumors in dense breast tissue characteristic of women under 40 years. In women over 50 without dense breasts, breast cancers detected by screening mammography are usually smaller and less aggressive than those detected by patients or doctors as a breast lump. This is because the most aggressive breast cancers are found in dense breast tissue, which mammograms perform poorly on.

The presumption was that by detecting the cancer in an earlier stage, women will be more likely to be cured by treatment. This assertion however has been challenged by recent reviews which have found the significance of these net benefits to be lacking for women at average risk of dying from breast cancer.