Breast cancer is a disease that every woman fears, and it can strike at any time. Thankfully, today’s screening techniques can help detect breast cancers earlier, when treatment options are more successful. Here are five things you should know about breast cancer screening and why you should take it seriously.
Breast cancer screening can help detect cancer before any symptoms or indicators arise. A medical expert can use this information to suggest treatment alternatives and possibly prevent the condition from deteriorating.
1. Who Is At High Risk For Breast Cancer?
Many factors can increase your risk for breast cancer but knowing them just might save you. Some of these include:
- A history of breast conditions
- A family history of breast cancer
- Going through post-menopausal hormone therapy
- Higher breast density on a mammogram
2. When Should You Get Screened For Breast Cancer?
If you want to minimize your risk of developing breast cancer, start with yearly mammograms for women over 40. The National Cancer Institute recommends annual mammography starting at age 40, as long as you’re in good health. Mammogram screenings are a safe way to detect early signs that something may be wrong before it turns into something life-threatening.
3. Ways To Screen For Breast Cancer
1) Mammography
A mammogram is a diagnostic procedure used to detect breast cancer. So far, mammograms are the best way to detect breast cancer early when treatment is most successful. Routine mammograms are a necessary part of preventive healthcare as they can lower the risk of dying from breast cancer for most people.
2) MRIs
A breast MRI uses magnets and radio waves to take pictures of the breasts. MRIs are used along with mammograms for high-risk women who need more frequent screening. However, in some cases, the MRI may appear abnormal even when there’s no cancer.
3) Genetic Tests
Genetic testing is essential to be able to assess your risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. If you have a high-risk background, such as having the BRCA mutation or known family members with these types of cancers, then these tests may be worth considering.
4. What If Your Screening Results Come Out Positive?
For those that have a positive screening and do have breast cancer, you may need to undergo treatment. However, the treatment options, especially if caught early, are highly successful.
Mammograms are not perfect though – sometimes they can give false positives.
False-positive mammography results are not uncommon, especially in younger women. Aside from age and density issues with breasts, many other factors may contribute to an individual’s chance of getting this type of reading, including family history and use of estrogen medication. Even if you have an abnormal mammogram, it may not be cancer. For many women, follow-up tests will show breast tissue that’s normal or benign.
5. What’s Next For Breast Cancer Screening Research?
There are new technologies in the works to help diagnose breast cancer earlier on in its life cycle than ever before!
At Altus Lifescience, our research focuses on breath technology to detect the early signs of cancer without any physical contact or taking blood samples. This new technique is a much-needed breakthrough in cancer detection because it’s non-invasive, contactless, and highly sensitive.
Our breath technology is in trial phase. We are beta testing it in different countries and across various demographics to ensure the high success rate of the product. We will soon be submitting it to the FDA to obtain pre-market approval before we begin to make the product available.
Learn more about our technology by visiting us at https://altuslifescience.com/ or watch this video to learn more about how we can detect breast cancer in a single breath!
