Prioritizing Screening Mammogram: Help Early Diagnosis?
Mammography (breast imaging) is one of the most commonly used preventive healthcare services (annual mammogram). However, with the recent rise of breast cancer, more and more women are asking their doctors about screening annual mammograms (scheduling baseline mammograms). What is the difference between an immediate and a delayed mammogram? How should you go about choosing which type of mammography to have? This article will talk about these questions and give you some tips on how to decide which screening mammograms are most important and get a immediate mammographic interpretation.
Screening mammograms (SMs) or Breast Imaging
Screening mammograms (SMs) for breast cancer are a very good way to find breast cancer early and promote breast cancer health, but they also have some problems. The biggest disadvantage is that SMs can be difficult and time-consuming to interpret. In fact, only about one out of every five cases of invasive breast cancer found by SMs is actually caused by the disease. So, how do you prioritize your breast imaging screening schedule so that you get the most benefit from each test?
The first step is to understand which types of cancer are most commonly women diagnosed with SMs. The three main types of breast cancer are ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), and metastatic disease (cancer that has spread throughout the body).
Which type of Breast Cancer You Have Affects How You Screen For it?
If you have LCIS or DCIS, then traditional mammography usually isn’t very useful because these tumors aren’t likely to grow large enough over time to cause serious (women’s) health problems. If you have stage 0 or 1 LCIS or DCIs, however, then routine screening with either smears or an ultrasound may still be worth doing depending on your personal risk factors for breast cancer awareness. If you don"™t know whether you have LCIS or DCIS yet, then testing for those markers will help determine your screening strategy later on down the road when more information becomes available about your particular case .
What are the most common questions patients are asked?
One of the most common questions that the primary care physician and patients have is how to best prioritize screening mammograms. Some people feel like they should start every woman over the age of 40 with a mammogram, while others believe that women in their early 30s who have never had a baby should not get screened at all.
There is no one right answer to this question"it depends on each individual’s risk factors for breast cancer awareness, medical history, and overall health condition. But there are some general rules that can help you choose which screenings to go through in a smart way to help avoid breast cancer deaths and promote breast health.
First and foremost, it is important to understand your risk level for breast cancer screening. This can be figured out by how you answer a few questions about your past and how you live your life: Do you have any family members or friends who have battled breast cancer? Have you ever been women diagnosed with ovarian or other gynecological (breast) cancers? Are you regularly exposed to radiation (such as from X-rays)? Once you know your risk level,you can begin to determine which screenings might be appropriate for you. Breast cancer awareness month is not the only time to be proactive in breast cancer(s) prevention through diagnostic imaging and get immediate screening mammogram interpretation for the best possible outcomes for breast health through diagnostic evaluation.
If You Have a Low Risk of Breast Cancer: If you have a low risk of breast cancer (1% lifetime chance), routine breast cancer screening mammograms (every two years after age 40) may not provide enough safety benefits to make up for the potential risks, such as anxiety caused by false positive results. If You Have a Moderate Risk of Breast Cancer: If you have a 25% chance of getting breast cancer in your lifetime, getting a mammogram every two years after you turn 40 may keep you safe enough to outweigh the risks.
If You Have A High Risk Of Breast Cancer: If you have a high risk of breast cancer (50% lifetime chance), routine breast cancer screening mammograms every year after the age of 40 will likely provide more safety benefits than would be gained by waiting and reducing diagnostic delays. In this case, it might also be a good idea to think about other tests, like an MRI.
Mammograms
1. Detect breast cancer early with a mammogram-up to three years before it can be felt.
2. The best tests available to doctors are: Mammograms (breast imaging) are the best way to find early signs of breast cancer.
3. Have regular mammograms"mammograms breast cancer screening are the most effective way to detect breast cancer in its early stages.
4. Elevate your risk of death by less than 1% per year if you don’t have regular mammograms-that’s one out of every 1,000 women!
"For facilities that can only offer immediate interpretation to a subset of women, prioritizing those most likely to be recalled may considerably reduce the number of women being recalled for diagnostic imaging at a follow-up visit," Diana L. Miglioretti, PhD, of the Department of Public Health Sciences at UC-Davis School of Medicine, and colleagues proposed the study.
Objectives
Create a strategy for arranging quick screening mammography interpretation and possibly diagnostic evaluation.
Methods
Population-based cohort of screening mammograms done at 126 radiology institutions from seven Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium registries from 2012 to 2020. Combinations of clinical history (age, BI-RADS density (breast density), time since prior mammogram, history of false-positive recall or biopsy), screening modality (digital mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis for breast cancer screening), and facility characteristics (profit status, location, screening volume, practice type, academic affiliation) were used to group screening mammography by recall rate, with 12/100 considered high and 16/100 considered very high. To figure out the efficiency ratio, the number of recalls was divided by the number of mammograms.
When your facility can only offer immediate translation, working with trained professionals may help you screen more women and increase the number of women who come back for follow-up at the same time.
In Conclusion
Mammograms are the best breast cancer screening tool we have to detect early-stage breast cancer. However, it is also important to remember that they are not 100% accurate and that false positives do occur. Also, when it comes to priority screening for women who have a higher risk of developing cancer, such as older or African American women, early detection becomes even more critical. So there should be a discussion prioritizing women to get their annual breast cancer screening.
In case you still have questions about how to prioritize the screenings for your facility in a way that works for your needs, there are some new guidelines being released soon by the American Cancer Society (ACS) in collaboration with leading medical institutions and experts across the country.
By Stephanie Comello – OncologyTube
References
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Health Imaging – Prioritizing immediate reads on these two groups of women reduces recall rates for mammo. Health Imaging Article, October 21, 2022
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ScienceDirect – Prioritizing Screening Mammograms for Immediate Interpretation and Diagnostic Evaluation Based on Risk of Recall. ScienceDirect Outline, October 20, 2022