Breast Cancer Screenings Save Lives
The best way to avoid dying from breast cancer is to make sure that any cancer is detected early. Most breast cancers that are diagnosed at an early stage are highly curable and the vast majority of women survive and live healthy lives.
Screening
The first step to a proper diagnosis is screening. Any woman, at any age post puberty, can perform a breast self exam at home. Most of the major cancer organizations recommend that women speak to their doctors about self exams, about how to perform them accurately and about their effectiveness.
Two major nonprofit cancer organizations recommend that women begin formal screening with a medical professional at age 20. Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the American Cancer Society recommend that a woman receive a clinical breast exam by a doctor at least once every three years between the ages of 20 and 39 and then every year beginning at age 40.
Those organizations also recommend that every woman age 40 and above get an annual mammography. The National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend that women over 40 get a mammogram every 1- 2 years to screen for breast cancer. Studies have shown that regular mammograms can decrease the risk of dying from breast cancer by as much as 23% among women age 50-59. While the percentage was not as high in other age groups, women who got regular mammograms still had a higher survival rate than those women who did not have the regular mammogram screenings.
The screening guidelines described above are meant to apply to the general population. If a woman has certain risk factors such as a close relative who had breast cancer or a personal history of cancer then her physician may recommend more frequent screenings.
Other screening options such as MRIs and ultrasounds are also used by certain physicians if they feel that an individual patient would benefit from such screenings.
Since screening is such an effective tool in detecting possible cancers, the government has taken steps to ensure that low income and uninsured women have access to these screening tests. Women between the ages of 40 and 64 who meet the income and insurance criteria are eligible to participate in the federal government's breast cancer screening program.
Screening is the First Step
Clinical breast exams, mammograms, ultrasounds and MRIs are the first step in early detection. They do not result in a diagnosis of breast cancer but they direct physicians to conduct additional tests, such as biopsies, if there is a suspicion of cancer. The screening tests allow many cancers to be detected at an early stage and to be treated successfully so that fewer women die from breast cancer and instead go on to live long and healthy lives.