Mammograms have changed a lot over the years, but they remain vital tools in the early detection, and sometimes prevention, of breast cancer.
Breast screening began more than a century ago with X-rays, which were followed in the 1960s by low-dose radiation machines. In the U.S., the FDA enacted breast screening standards in the 1990s, with current recommendations calling for women to undergo the procedure annually starting at age 40, or earlier if they’re considered high risk because of family history or other factors.
Still, for a variety of reasons, including lack of access, many American women end each year without completing their recommended mammograms.
“There are still 20 to 30 percent of women who don’t come for yearly screenings,” says Amy Kerger, DO, a diagnostic radiologist and mammography expert at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James). “If you wait until it’s palpable or for other symptoms to present, the treatments can be harder, and it can be more difficult to save lives.”
Kerger and her colleagues at Ohio State’s Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center (SSCBC) provide women with the latest mammography tech - including 3D technology known as breast tomosynthesis - tailored to meet each patient’s unique needs.
“Ultrasound is often used for women with dense breast tissue,” Kerger explains. “Women with dense breast tissue have a small, increased risk of breast cancer, and it’s easier to see through the dense tissue with ultrasound.”
Overall, eight percent of women will get breast cancer during their lives, according to Kerger. To determine risk, experts discuss family history and several other factors, such as childbirth at later ages or early-onset periods. Those discussions help doctors determine each patient’s risk.
For those who are diagnosed with breast cancer, Kerger and her colleagues quickly develop specialized, comprehensive care plans utilizing the wide array of expertise on Ohio State’s team.
“At the SSCBC, we are all specialists in breast cancer,” Kerger says. “I specialize in reading breast imaging. Our surgeons and radiologists specialize in breast cancer. I feel that we know what patients are going through, and we’re there to help them get through that.”
Learn more about breast cancer, including risks, symptoms and treatment options at The Ohio State University: go.osu.edu/CsK4
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