Digital Mammography: A New Way Of Detecting Breast Cancer
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This article is from the Health Articles series.
Digital Mammography: A New Way Of Detecting Breast Cancer
For women, breast cancer is a dreaded and devastating disease. Over a lifetime, one in eight American women are affected by breast cancer. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in women. Although currently there is no way to prevent breast cancer, early detection is a woman's best hope for effective treatment and better survival rates.
Currently, breast cancer can be detected through a breast examination by a physician or by the woman herself; or conventional x-ray mammogram, which can find a tumor that is too small to be discovered by breast self-exam.
The use of technology to produce a picture of the breast is termed "imaging." Imaging is used several ways, among them:
- Screening: Cancers found by screening mammography have a greater chance for cure and may be treated without mastectomy.
- Diagnosis: Image-guided needle biopsies can replace many surgical biopsies, reduce cost, and eliminate scarring.
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