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Breast Cancer Screening

What is Screening?

Screening for breast cancer is examination (or testing) of people for early stages in the development of breast cancer even though they have no symptoms. Scientists have studied patterns of cancer in the population to learn which people are more likely to get certain types of cancer. They have also studied what things around us and what things we do in our lives may cause cancer. This information sometimes helps doctors recommend who should be screened for certain types of cancer, what types of screening tests people should have, and how often these tests should be done. 

If your doctor suspects that you may have cancer, he or she will order certain tests to see whether you do. These are called diagnostic tests. Some tests are used for diagnostic purposes, but are not suitable for screening people who have no symptoms.

Purposes of this summary

The purposes of this summary on breast cancer screening are to:

• give information on breast cancer and what makes it more likely to occur (risk factors)
   
• describe breast cancer screening methods and what is known about their effectiveness

You can talk to your doctor or health care professional about cancer screening and whether it would be likely to help you.

Breast Cancer Screening

Risk of breast cancer

More women in the United States get breast cancer than any other type of cancer (except for skin cancer). The number of cases per 1,000 women has increased slightly every year over the last 50 years. It is the second leading cause of death from cancer in women (lung cancer causes the most deaths from cancer in women).

Anything that increases a person's chance of developing a disease is called a risk factor. Some of these risk factors for breast cancer are as follows:

Age - Breast cancer is more likely to develop as you grow older. Beginning menstruation at an early age and late age at first birth may also increase the risk of development of breast cancer.

History of Breast Cancer - If you have already had breast cancer, you are more likely to develop breast cancer again.

Family History - If your mother or sister had breast cancer, you are more likely to develop breast cancer, especially if they had it at an early age.

Other Breast Diseases - If you have had a breast biopsy specimen that showed certain types of benign breast conditions, you may be more likely to develop breast cancer. For most women, however, the ordinary "lumpiness" they feel in their breasts does not increase their risk of breast cancer.

Screening tests for breast cancer

Mammogram - A mammogram is a special x-ray of the breast that can often find tumors that are too small for you or your doctor to feel. Your doctor may suggest that you have a mammogram, especially if you have any of the risk factors listed above.

The usefulness of mammograms may be different depending on your age. Following is the current information about breast cancer screening with mammography for three age groups of women.

Ages 40-49

Some studies that have been done show that breast cancer screening with mammography reduces the number of deaths from breast cancer in these women. If you are in this age group, talk to your doctor about mammography as a regular part of your health care plan.

Ages 50-69

Many studies have shown that regular breast cancer screening with mammography reduces the number of deaths from breast cancer for women aged 50-69. If you are in this age group, talk to your doctor about mammography as a regular part of your health care plan.

Ages 70 and over

Very few studies give information about how effective breast cancer screening is for women aged 70 and over. However, the risk of breast cancer increases with age, and the age at which screening is no longer useful in reducing death from breast cancer is not known. If you are in this age group, talk to your doctor about mammography as a regular part of your health care plan.

Clinical Breast Examination - During your routine physical examination, your doctor or health care professional may do a clinical breast examination (CBE). During a CBE, your doctor will carefully feel your breasts and under your arms to check for lumps or other unusual changes.

Breast Self-Examination - When you examine your own breasts it is called breast self-examination (BSE). Studies so far have not shown that BSE alone reduces the number of deaths from breast cancer. Therefore, it should not be used in place of clinical breast examination and mammography. Your doctor can talk to you about what types of screening tests would be best for you.

Adapted from information provided by The National Cancer Institute.

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