Pat yourself on the back if you’ve crossed your regular mammogram off of your to-do list: adding to the number of American women receiving this essential annual screening is leading to better survival rates.
According to a study in the journal Cancer, women are being diagnosed with smaller breast tumors than in the past. Experts credit mammograms with finding these cancers earlier, when they are most treatable.
Another study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported that women whose breast cancer is found with a mammogram often live longer than women whose cancer was found another way.
Mammography is an important tool for detecting breast cancer early on, when it’s easiest to treat. But the benefits and limitations of mammography vary based on factors like age and personal risk.
The new guidelines released by the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommend that women should begin having yearly mammograms by age 45 and can change to having mammograms every other year beginning at age 55.
Women should have the choice to start screening with yearly mammograms as early as age 40 if they want to. Tanner Cancer Care recommends beginning mammography at age 40 if there's any history of breast cancer in the family. At this point, we also still recommend annual mammography for women age 55 and older.
Like any test, mammograms have some limitations. For example, they will not reveal every cancer. And some breast cancers detected by mammograms may still be hard to treat. Nonetheless, the potential benefits of regular mammograms can mean lives saved — maybe even yours.
Time for your mammogram?
Digital mammography services are available at Tanner Breast Health locations in Carrollton and Villa Rica, the diagnostic imaging department at Higgins General Hospital in Bremen and the Mammography on the Move mobile mammography unit. You can schedule your mammogram in Carrollton, Villa Rica, Bremen or at any Mammography on the Move stop by calling 770-812-9721.
For more information about mammography and breast care at Tanner, visit Tanner Breast Health.
Comprehensive Breast Care Center is located in Carrollton, Georgia. For more information, visit compbreastcare.org or call 770-812-5886.