Sky Lakes Medical Center | Live Smart | Spring 2019

SkyLakes.org | LIVE smart 7 Mammograms give women a crucial head start on finding breast cancer early, when treatment is often most effective. They can detect tumors that are still too tiny to feel and identify cancers before symptoms start. Still, although they’ve saved countless lives, these breast X-rays aren’t perfect. Mammograms may miss about 20 percent of all breast cancers, the National Cancer Institute reports. They can also cause false alarms by indicating abnormalities that turn out not to be cancer. As a result, women may undergo unnecessary— and often anxiety-producing—additional testing. A different dimension in breast X-rays A newer type of mammogram, however, may help overcome these flaws and improve the accuracy of breast cancer screening. It’s called three-dimensional, or 3-D, mammography, and the newest generation of the technology will soon be available at Sky Lakes Outpatient Imaging. Here’s how 3-D mammography works: During a 3-D mammogram, a woman’s breast is compressed, just as it is for a standard mammogram. An X-ray machine moves over the breast, taking multiple, slice-like pictures that special computer software then assembles to create a detailed 3-D image of the breast. Research suggests that 3-D mammograms have the potential to: ▸ ▸ Improve the ability of doctors to accurately diagnose breast cancer; ▸ ▸ Find small tumors that may have remained hidden on a conventional mammogram; and ▸ ▸ Greatly reduce the number of women called back for further testing because of false alarms. In addition, the new technology can provide clearer images of abnormalities in dense breasts. Women who have dense breasts—defined as breasts that have a lot of fibrous or glandular tissue and not much fat—are at a slightly higher risk of developing breast cancer. Additional source: Radiological Society of North America Get tested The American Cancer Society recommends that women at average risk of breast cancer have yearly mammograms starting at age 45. (Women between 40 and 44 have the option to start screening with a mammogram every year.) Schedule your 3-D mammogram by calling Sky Lakes Outpatient Imaging at 541-274-4330 . 3-D MAMMOGRAMS An updated view for breast cancer