Breast Cancer Screening Process
It's important that you take good care
of your breast by going for breast screening annually. Breast
screening can save your life by detecting early symptoms for breast
cancer, therefore, doctors can treat cancer early and the treatment
is more likely to work well, cutting down risk of complications, and
best of all you don't need to suffers being in finance, low self
esteem or life threatening recovery.
There are three types of screening
process for breast cancer:
-
Screening mammogram
-
Clinical breast exam
-
Breast self-exam
You should consult with your doctor
about when to start and how often to check for breast cancer. You
shall follow the guidance given if you are doing self-exam on your
breast.
Breast Screening - Mammogram
It's recommended to have your breast
undergo mammogram screening early:
-
A mammogram is a picture of the
breast made with x-rays. Women in their 40s and older should
have mammograms every 1 to 2 years.
-
Women who are younger than 40 and
have risk factors for breast cancer should consult their health
care provider whether to have mammograms and how often to have
them.
Mammograms is an advance screening
process, it can often show a breast lump before it can be felt.
Mammograms also can show a cluster of tiny specks of calcium, these
specks are called micro calcifications.
Specks or lumps can be from cancer,
precancerous cells, or other conditions. Further tests are needed to
find out if abnormal cells are present. If the screenings have
detected an abnormal cells, you may need a biopsy. A biopsy is a
medical test involving the removal of cells or tissues for
examination. It is the removal of tissue from a living subject to
determine the presence or extent of a disease. These removed tissue
is generally examined under a microscope by a pathologist or can
also be analyzed chemically.
While mammograms sound great in
technical aspect and are the best tool doctors available to doctors
for breast cancer detection, it is still not a perfect screening,
the following statement explain why:
-
A mammogram may miss some cancers.
(The result is called a "false negative.")
-
A mammogram may show things that
turn out not to be cancer. (The result is called a "false
positive.")
-
Some fast-growing deadly tumors may
grow large or spread to other parts of the body before a
mammogram detects them.
There is some radiation risks involved
when you undergone mammograms. The risk of any harm is very slight
but with repeated x-rays it could cause problems. The benefits
nearly outweigh the risk. You should talk with your health care
provider about the need for each x-ray, and you shall ask for shield
to protect parts of your body that are not in the picture.
Clinical Breast Exam
When you go for clinical breast exam, your health care provider checks your
breasts. You may be asked to raise your arms over your head, let
them hang by your sides, or press your hands against your hips. Your
health care provider looks for differences in size or shape between
your breasts. The skin of your breasts is checked for a
rash, dimpling, or other abnormal signs. Your nipples may be
squeezed to check for fluid.
Using the pads of the fingers to feel for lumps, your health care
provider checks your entire breast, underarm, and collarbone area. A
lump is generally the size of a pea before anyone can feel it. The
exam is done on one side following the other. Your health care provider
checks the lymph nodes near the breast to see if they are enlarged.
A thorough clinical breast exam may take about 10 minutes.
Breast Self-Exam
It's advisable to perform monthly breast
self-exams to check for any changes in your breasts. It is important
to remember that changes can occur because of aging, your menstrual
cycle,
pregnancy, menopause, or taking
birth control pills or other hormones. It is normal for breasts
to feel a little lumpy and uneven. Also, it is common for your
breasts to be swollen and tender right before or during your
menstrual period. You should contact your health care provider if
you notice any unusual changes in your breasts.
Breast self-exams cannot replace
regular screening mammograms and clinical breast exams. Studies have
not shown that breast self-exams alone reduce the number of deaths
from breast cancer.
You may want to ask the doctor the
following questions about screening:
-
Which tests do you recommend for
me? Why?
-
Do the tests hurt? Are there any
risks?
-
How much do mammograms cost?
-
How soon after the mammogram
will I learn the results?
-
If the results show a problem,
how will you learn if I have cancer?
|
