Breast Cancer Screening Tests

The onset of breast cancer does not always involve red flags and sirens. Most often, people who suffer from the disease never felt or observed anything different until such time that the disease totally got out of hand.

Screening for breast cancer is done to satisfy two possible reasons: early detection of breast cancer, and the reduced possibility of dying from it. Experts are continually evaluating the various breast cancer screening tests in order to learn which offer the most benefits and the least number of risks.

Breast cancer screening is done to illustrate whether the early detection, or discovery of cancer before symptoms develop, will reduce one’s risk of dying from breast cancer. There are certain types of cancer that allow better recovery chances when detected and treated at the early stages.

There are three basic breast cancer screening tests available: the breast self-examination (BSE), the clinical breast exam, and the mammogram.

Over the years, women have always been encouraged to do breast self-examination on a regular basis when they are around 20 years old. This particular screening for breast cancer aims to make women get used to how each of their breasts normally feels (and looks) so that they would be capable of detecting breast cancer early.

However, there are studies conducted which revealed that the breast self-examination does not really lessen the mortality rate due to breast cancer. The studies further show that most of the women who are proficient in this type of breast cancer screening are more likely to decide on undergoing needless biopsies when breast lumps are found.

In addition, more studies done about breast self-examination were not able to find any hard proof of its efficiency in reducing death from breast cancer. Hence, the American Cancer Society has altered its stand on breast self-examination and has tagged it as among the optional breast cancer screening tests.

For women who do not belong to families with breast cancer history or some other factors that increase their risk, the American Cancer Society still advices them to undergo regular breast cancer screening tests. Even if you perform breast self-examinations, it is still recommended for women below to have clinical breast exams at least once in a period of three years. After age 40, the American Cancer Society suggests that such exams be done every year.

The clinical breast exam is performed by a doctor, and is done in order to ensure that you did not miss “feeling” any lumps or swollen lymph nodes when you performed breast self-examinations.

Among the three breast cancer screening tests, the mammogram is the most favorite joke subjects. The mammogram makes use of a number of X-rays which shows different breast tissue images. Even if it is often the butt of jokes, mammograms remain to be the greatest imaging technique in the early detection of tumors – even before you or your doctor see the symptoms. Because of this fact, the American Cancer Society proposes women who are more than 40 years old to undergo mammography.

But a mammogram is not a perfect breast cancer screening technique. There are times when mammograms fail to detect lumps that were felt during breast self-exams or clinical exams. Other times, problems are shown by mammograms, which turn out to be nonexistent. This leads patients to undergo biopsies that are not actually necessary.

The recent breast cancer screening guidelines stress the importance of breast health awareness rather over regular breast cancer screening tests. The guidelines may not suggest anyone to stop undergoing these tests, but it has clearly advised everyone to pay more attention on breast familiarity than those self-exams. After all, prevention is a lot better than finding a cure.