Study Evaluates 3D Mammography for Breast Cancer Screening

Clinical trials for 3D mammography's efficacy in breast cancer screening will be taking place across the US and Canada over the next several months. Visit www.cancer.gov for more information on clinical trials and how to participate.

Breast cancer screening is incredibly important when it comes to protecting women from this common and fatal disease. It's because of stringent screening practices that there are much better survival rates for women diagnosed with this cancer.

Catching a tumor earlier and identifying risk factors for an aggressive disease has helped doctors and scientists figure out how best to treat women with breast cancer. That's why women are encouraged to get routine mammograms starting at age 40, and even earlier if there is a history of breast cancer in the family.

Breast cancer research has led to many innovations

Nearly everyone is personally affected by breast cancer. If they don't have it, it’s likely that someone close to them has been affected by it or knows someone who has. Because of how common and deadly the disease is, there has been a lot of research into treatment and prevention. After devoting time, money, and resources into research, scientists and doctors have been able to improve survival for breast cancer victims in several different ways.

Routine screening is one of the most important defenses against breast cancer

Breast cancer screening remains one of the most important ways to improve survival and outcomes for the disease. This is because the earlier you catch the disease, the sooner you can treat the person and give them the best chance for successful remission. The earlier the stage, the less likely cancer has spread to other parts of the body. This is important because once cancer has spread, it becomes more difficult to remove all the bad cancer cells without destroying the rest of your body's healthy tissue.

Routine mammography emerged as the most practical way to monitor women everywhere for signs of breast cancer. Though many times, women will get detections of a lump or mass that turns out to be benign, the few times that a cancer is discovered still makes this screening method worth it.

3D mammography has emerged as a breast cancer screening test

Recently, a new technology has been proposed as a better screening method to detect breast cancer. Digital breast tomosynthesis is a 3D mammography which boasts improved diagnostic ability to screen for breast cancer especially in women with more dense breast tissue. The X-ray takes many images within seconds and recreates a 3D image of the breast for radiologists to review. This machine has been approved to be used in combination with standard 2D mammography since 2011.

There have been several studies that advocate for 3D mammography's improved overall breast cancer detection as well as its ability to detect earlier stage disease. If these improvements are true, it could mean better peace of mind and clarity for women during this screening process.

Read on to learn more about 3D mammography and what it could mean for the future of breast cancer screening.