Detection and Diagnosis of IBC and Other Breast Disease
“Breast cancer is among the most common and deadly of all cancers, occurring in nearly one in ten women. Mammography is a uniquely important type of medical imaging used to screen healthy women for small curable breast cancers. Controlled medical studies have shown that mammography can lead to decreases in death due to breast cancer sufficient to measurably lengthen life. The reported cancer free 5 year survival for cancer detected by mammography is 92%, with 96% overall 5 year survival.” A thorough presentation of mammography is presented by the Creighton University School of Medicine, including the following subjects.
- Section 1: Introduction - Rational of Mammographic Screening
- Section 2: Physical Principles of Mammography and Basic Limitations
- Section 3: Evaluation of Masses
- Section 4: Evaluation of Calcifications
- Section 5: Evaluation of associated structural changes
- Section 6: Location of lesions in the breast
What diagnostic tools may be used to detect breast cancer when symptoms exist but mammography/ultrasound are negative?
A biopsy is a common diagnostic tool and may take the form of a skin, punch, needle, needle core, or excisional biopsy (some of these biopsy names are used interchangeably).
Depending on clinical presentation of a breast disorder, the following diagnostic tools may also be employed.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) provides physicians with information about the body’s chemistry not available through any other procedure. Unlike CT or MRI, which look at anatomy or body form, PET studies metabolic activity or body function.
New Breast Cancer Screening Methods Show Promise
But Impact on Survival, Quality of Life Undetermined
“Ductal lavage is used to identify cancerous and precancerous cells in the milk ducts of the breast. It has been dubbed a “Pap smear for the breast” because, like the test for cervical cancer, it is designed to find abnormal cells. The procedure, which can be done in a doctor’s office, involves inserting a small catheter into the ductal openings in the nipple and washing out cells from inside the duct. The cells are then analyzed by a pathologist who is trained to assess whether they are normal or have begun to look abnormal in ways that indicate they may be moving toward becoming cancerous.”
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