New way of detecting Breast
Cancer
For women, breast cancer is a dreaded
and devastating disease. Over a lifetime, one in eight indian women are affected
by breast cancer. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second
leading cause of cancer death in women. Although currently there is no way to
prevent breast cancer, early detection is a woman's best hope for effective
treatment and better survival rates.
Currently, breast cancer can be
detected through a breast examination by a physician or by the woman herself; or
conventional x-ray mammogram, which can find a tumor that is too small to be
discovered by breast self-exam.
The use of technology to produce a
picture of the breast is termed "imaging." Imaging is used several ways, among
them:
-
Screening: Cancers found by screening
mammography have a greater chance for cure and may be treated without
mastectomy.
-
Diagnosis: Image-guided needle biopsies can
replace many surgical biopsies, reduce cost, and eliminate scarring.
Conventional mammography
Conventional mammography is the way
most breast imaging is performed. It is a technique that uses x-rays to create
an image of the breast tissue on film. During a mammography, a woman undresses
to the waist and stands in front of the mammography equipment, where her breast
is slowly pressed between a plastic plate and the film while the x-ray is taken.
This "flattening" technique generally
takes a few seconds. Typically, two x-rays are taken of each breast; more may be
needed to view areas of special concern.
In recent years, advances have
improved the procedure and reduced the radiation dose to very low levels. Even
with technical advances in x-ray mammography there are still problems
distinguishing malignant from benign tumors.
Three of four lesions that it detects
are benign, resulting in unnecessary biopsies. Mammography misses about 15
percent of cancers. Many of the missed cancers occur in women with dense breast
tissue. About 40 percent of women have dense breasts and this type of tissue can
mask the presence of a tumor.
Digital mammography
Because mammograms are not foolproof,
there is a need for newer technologies that are better able to detect breast
cancer. With digital mammography it is possible to capture and display the x-ray
information on computers, without the use of film. It is then possible to
enhance the quality of the image and even magnify the view of specific areas of
the breast. Digital images can be corrected for under- or overexposure.
This is especially useful in "dense"
breast tissue, which makes visualization of cancer difficult. And digital images
can be stored as electronic patient records, making them easier to retrieve and
send to specialists for evaluation.
At this point in time it appears that
digital images are as good as, but not better than conventional mammography.
Even though, digital mammography is a step in the right direction in finding
more sophisticated ways to detect breast cancer.
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