Breast Cancer Screenings

What are breast cancer screenings?

Breast cancer screenings are medical tests that help detect breast cancer, often before you have any signs or symptoms of the disease. They’re very important to your health because they can help find cancer early, when it’s the easiest to treat.

Studies consistently show that breast cancer screenings save lives. Talk to your healthcare provider about when you should begin getting breast cancer screenings and how often you should get them. They can also tell you what type of screening is best for you.

Screenings alone don’t diagnose breast cancer. It takes a combination of tests and procedures to make a breast cancer diagnosis. But breast cancer screenings tell your provider when they need to look closer for possible cancer.

What are the different types of breast cancer screenings?

Healthcare providers use several types of imaging tests to examine your breast tissue and check for signs of breast cancer. Providers may use two or three tests to help lead them to a breast cancer diagnosis. A radiologist analyzes the images that breast cancer screenings produce.

Mammogram

Mammograms (or mammography) are the gold standard for detecting breast cancer. It’s the most common screening. It uses a special X-ray machine to produce a picture of the tissue inside your breast. It involves placing your breasts inside a flat plate or paddle. The plates then compress your breast so it’s flat.

Mammograms are typically either 2D or 3D (breast tomosynthesis). 3D mammograms tend to create clearer, more detailed images. But not every facility has this technology.

Breast ultrasound

Ultrasound is another tool providers use to see the inside of your breast. Your provider may suggest getting one if they see something irregular on a mammogram or breast exam. Your provider either moves a small, handheld device around your breast or uses a larger ultrasound device to scan your entire breast. This device releases sound waves through your breast tissue and converts the sound waves to images your provider can see on a screen.

Breast MRI

Breast MRI is another test that creates clear pictures of the inside of your breasts using a magnet and radio waves. Your provider uses it along with other screening tools to detect cancer, especially if you’re at a higher risk or if you’ve had an abnormal mammogram result.

Molecular breast imaging (MBI)

MBI is a test that uses radioactive tracer and a special gamma camera to highlight cancerous cells in your breast tissue. It works by “lighting up” areas where cells appear irregular or out of control. It’s especially helpful if you have dense breasts.

Non-imaging breast exams

Being aware of how your breasts look and feel is another good way to detect changes in your breast health. This is sometimes called breast self-awareness. You should report changes to your provider right away.

There are two additional types of breast exams that don’t involve special equipment:

• Clinical breast exam: This is when your provider feels around your breast for lumps or changes with their fingers.
• Breast self-exam: This is when you feel your own breasts for lumps or changes with your fingers.

It’s worth noting that while these breast exams are harmless, they haven’t been found to be extremely beneficial in preventing breast cancer. They should never replace a mammogram.

What are the general guidelines for breast cancer screening?

Your healthcare provider will determine when and how often you should get a screening based on a breast cancer risk assessment. This tool predicts your chances of getting breast cancer based on factors like:

• Having the BRCA gene mutation
• Having a family history of breast cancer
• Age
• Breast density

Once your provider determines your overall risk, they’ll recommend when and how often you should have a breast cancer screening. This involves getting a mammogram.

General guidelines are if you:

• Are between the ages of 40 and 74 with an average risk for breast cancer, you should have a mammogram every one to two years
• Have a higher risk for breast cancer, you may need to get mammograms every year until age 74, and you may also need your first mammogram before age 40
• Have an average risk for breast cancer, you should have your first mammogram by age 40

Your healthcare provider is the best person to talk to about screenings and when you should have them.

What are the benefits and risks of screening for breast cancer?

The benefit of screening for breast cancer is that it allows healthcare providers to catch cancer in the earliest stages, when it’s easiest to treat. This saves many lives.

The risks of these screenings are small when compared with the risks of allowing breast cancer to go undetected. Some tests expose you to low levels of radiation. It’s also possible to get a misleading result from a test. This is why providers often recommend more than one.

What type of results do you get from a breast cancer screening?

Healthcare providers use a tool called BI-RADS to report most breast cancer screening results. It’s a standardized way to describe the results of breast imaging in a way you can understand. There are six categories, and each category has a definition. If your results don’t make sense to you, please reach out to your healthcare provider so they can explain them.

Most screening results are available within a few business days. This depends on several factors, though. Your healthcare provider can tell you more about when to expect your results.

What do I do if my results are abnormal?

Having an abnormal result on one screening test doesn’t mean you have breast cancer. It means more tests are necessary. A breast biopsy is the only test that can diagnose breast cancer definitively.

When should I call my healthcare provider?

Contact your healthcare provider if you:

• Have questions about when you should get your first or next mammogram, and be sure to keep these screening appointments
• Notice any new and unusual symptoms like nipple discharge, inverted nipple, breast skin changes or breast lumps
• Have questions about your screening results
• Want more information on the types of breast cancer screenings available to you