After the age of 40, the first (initial) mammography should be first of all aiming prevention, but also in order to detect an eventual breast tumor in early stage.
{mosimage}MAMMOGRAPHY is non-invasive method of x-ray breast examination in women and in some rare cases in men. The X-ray is performed by a special x-ray device – mammography and it detects changes in soft tissues. The doctor – radiologist can use this method in order to detect content and difference between healthy and damaged tissue. Also, it is possible to clearly see micro-calcifications which are the first sign of breast tumor beginning.
Mammography is the best method in early detecting of breast cancer in women aged 35 to 40, as this is the age when the frequency of breast cancer starts increasing. In women older than 40, regular mammography examinations can detect even two years before the tumor grows enough to the size it can be detected by touching.
While performing mammography procedure, compression of breasts tissue is necessary for the reason of sharper and clearer, i.e. better quality and reliability image result. Compression, although unpleasant, significantly increases visibility of various pathology processes. The very procedure of mammography shots is painless and very fast. No one should be afraid of radiation because modern mammography devices show very low radiation. It is also important to say that mammography radiation cannot cause breast cancer.
Mammography is always performed in two projections in order to show the whole breast, while both breasts are examined. The other, additional and special projections have a particular role and are used as additional procedure in some indicative cases. Mammography is used as: clinical mammography – in diagnostics of unclear clinical findings in symptomatic patients, mammography for early breast cancer detecting, and as screening mammography – in asymptomatic patients.
It is performed in women older than 40, but it can be used as a method even for younger women if necessary. Mammography is not limited by the age of patients, but by the breast tissue composition. Breasts of young women are of higher gland tissue density, and it can limit mammography efficiency. In these cases, mammography results reliability is about 65%. This is the reason why breast ultrasound is performed much more often in younger women. Reliability of mammography in elderly women, however, is very high - about 85 percents, while combined with ultrasound examination it goes up to 95 percents. These are complementary examinations and complete one another.
Mammography findings – results, indicating malignity, include: increased density, irregular edges of nodes and irregular amounts of calcium around the node (micro-calcifications).
Mammography should be performed even in younger women in case there are some justified signs or symptoms or changes on breasts, but it must be always done between the fourth and the eighth day of the menstrual bleeding beginning. Mammography in these cases must be almost always followed by ultrasound examinations. Mammography should be performed before any other interventions on breasts, such as puncture or biopsy (taking the tissue samples by surgical method).
Breast cancer can be cured only if it is detected in the first clinical stadium. The first clinical stadium means the phase when the disease is only located in the particular organ (breast), while the other stadiums include the fact the disease already spread somewhere. The first stadium of the disease shows more than 90% of possibility to cure the cancer, while the fourth stadium shows less than 10% of survival. Tumor sized only 8mm, very often metastases into the lymph nodes. That is why it is so important to discover the tumor while it is small and creates only discrete calcifications. These calcifications are sized from less than 0,1to 1 mm, grouped on the surface less than 1 cm, and obviously, only mammography method obtains clear visibility of these tiny but dangerous changes.
Mammography is the only method that can detect those changes in breast tissue which cannot be discovered by other methods, so it represents the key in early diagnostics.
Mammography represents the ‘golden standard’ in early breast cancer detecting.
The age of a female is a deciding factor in breast cancer development, so consequently mammography is not performed in girls, young women, and women in generative age, pregnant women and breast feeding women. The organized mammography screening is not being performed in Serbia according to the existing legal regulative (Federal Law on protection against radiation, Gazette SRJ No.46/96, Article 17) so the majority of women performs so-called diagnostic mammography in case of certain symptoms or signs of the existing breast tumors. However, the importance of breast cancer problem and better conditions in health sector initiate the issue of mammography screening seriously. Mammography of women younger than 40 is very rarely indicated.
MD Jasmina Đurić radiology specialist
MERCYLESS
Breast cancer is the most frequent malign tumor in women in Serbia. Every year up to 3700 newly detected cases appear, while, unfortunately even 1370 ends with lethal outcome. Mortality rate increased by 2,4 times only in the period of the last 30 years. This high mortality rate is the result of late detecting of disease, because two thirds of women visit doctors in terminal phase of the disease. Serbia still does not have any organized and systematic program for early detecting of breast tumors in spite of the fact this action program is absolute necessity. Preventive mammography examinations are the safest way to either confirm healthy state or to show tumor existence in early phase. More than 30 years of preventive mammography procedure in the countries which regulated this procedure as obligatory, contributed to the 30% decrease of mortality of patients.
RISKY
Risk factors related to breast cancer include: female sex, positive family anamnesis (including mother, sister or daughter...), early menarche, women who did not deliver any children, the first pregnancy after the age of 35, late menopause, alcohol consummation
RECOMMENDATIONS
Young women should start with early self-examinations of breasts at the age of 20 (once a month, between fifth and tenth day of menstrual period). At the age between 25 and 30, it is recommended to perform once a year clinical and ultrasound breast examination. At the age of 40, initial mammography is recommended, followed by control mammography examinations every two years. Many things depend on yourselves.
With this online form you can send application for your family card