Word: mammogram
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...stepped to the podium last week to issue the government's final take on the mammography controversy that has raged for months among breast-cancer specialists. The bottom line: a strong endorsement of mammography and the current National Cancer Institute recommendation that women 40 and older get a mammogram every year...
Nancy Ulene, 43, wasn't particularly worried when a routine mammogram turned up something her radiologist thought was fishy. She had had a tumor seven years earlier that turned out to be benign. But this time was different. A biopsy confirmed that Ulene, the niece of former Today show medical expert Art Ulene, had ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, a growth that is variously described as either an early-stage breast cancer or a precancerous lesion. "It was very confusing," says Ulene, a color stylist for Walt Disney TV Animation. "I needed to know more...
Nancy Ulene, 43, wasn't particularly worried when a routine mammogram turned up something her radiologist thought was fishy. She had had a tumor seven years earlier that turned out to be benign. But this time was different. A biopsy confirmed that Ulene, the niece of former Today show medical expert Art Ulene, had ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, a growth that is variously described as either an early-stage breast cancer or a precancerous lesion. "It was very confusing," says Ulene, a color stylist for Walt Disney TV Animation. "I needed to know more...
After a tumor starts to break out of its milk duct, it's often still quite small. About the smallest tumor a mammogram can pick up is 0.5 cm to 1 cm (0.2 in. to 0.4 in.) in diameter. By contrast, the average cancers that are felt either by women or their physicians are around 2.5 cm, or about an inch. Even though mammograms still miss about 10% of all tumors, it's their ability to spot smaller tumors, which are generally easier to treat, that keeps women coming back for their annual appointment...
...variety of reasons, radiologists in the U.S. tend to err on the side of caution. That is, they identify lots of "abnormalities," of which only 2% to 11% prove to be cancerous--either DCIS or an invasive tumor. Sometimes a second mammogram or an ultrasound provides the necessary reassurance. Other times, a biopsy--which entails the removal of some breast tissue--is required to resolve any ambiguity. Here the odds of finding cancer rise to about 25%, which means that 75% of biopsies come back negative...