“When breast cancer is detected early and treated promptly, suffering and ultimately the loss of life can be significantly reduced. Women are encouraged to ask their doctors and other health care providers about mammography screening. Mammography (and x-ray picture of the breast) is the single most effective method to detect breast changes that may be cancer, long before physical symptoms can be seen or felt. For early stage breast cancer, there are more treatment options, treatment can be less disfiguring and less toxic and survival is improved.
As women age, their risk of breast cancer increases. For most women, high-quality mammography screening should begin at age 40. As risk factors vary in everyone, each woman and her doctor should discuss the plan that’s right for her. Most organizations recommend screening every one to two years, some recommend it take place every year. Screening should continue throughout a woman’s lifetime.
In addition to the use of mammography, health care providers should also examine a woman’s breasts, called clinical breast examination (CBE), as part of routine health care to search for any abnormalities that may be missed by mammography. Breast Self Examination (BSE) may alert a women to any changes in her breasts, but it is not a substitute for mammography screening. The value of BSE is that it helps a woman become familiar with how her breasts normally feel and to notice any changes.”
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