Various methods exist for early detection of breast cancer. Dr Chris reviews them for you.

All about breast screening.

Breast Screening
Breast screening is a method of detecting breast cancer at a very early stage. The most common is the mammogram. This form of screening is available on the NHS for women between 50-70 years old.

Genetic testing is also available in certain cases where there is family history of cancer.

A new technique, Thermography is available but only privately.

More detailed information on these techniques is provided below. Don't forget, however, that you can examine your self - for free as often as you like! See : Dr Chris's guide to breast examination

Mammogram

This involves an x-ray of each breast - a mammogram - which is taken while carefully compressing the breast. Most women find it a bit uncomfortable and a few find it painful. The mammogram can detect small changes in breast tissue which may indicate cancers which are too small to be felt either by the woman herself or by a doctor.

Is it available on the NHS?
Free breast screening is available for all women in the UK aged between 50 and 70 are now routinely invited (she will have her first invitation for a screening before her 53rd birthday). Once women reach the upper age limit for routine invitations for breast screening, they are encouraged to make their own appointment. Women are invited to a specialised screening unit, (which can be hospital based, mobile, or permanently based elsewhere). New stats say that 500,000 women between 50-70, that's 1 in 4 still do not take up their invitation of a free screening.

Buy what if I am under 50?
Women under 50 are not offered routine screening. This is because mammograms are not as effective in pre-menopausal women. The density of the breast tissue makes it more difficult to detect problems, and also because the incidence of breast cancer is lower in this age group. As women go past the menopause, the glandular tissue in their breast "involutes" and the breast tissue is increasingly made up of only fat. This is clearer on the mammogram and makes interpretation of the x-ray more reliable. Breast cancer is far more common in post-menopausal women and the risk increases with age.

Outcome
After receiving the results of the mammogram, you may be asked to have further tests. This can be because of problems with the original mammogram, it does not neccessarily mean that you have cancer. These additional tests include biopsy (removal of small sample of suspect cells), ultrasound, or physical examination. More details are contained in the link below.

More information about mammograms from Cancer Research UK

Genetic Testing
This is used IF you have a living relative who has already developed breast or ovarian cancer. It is done at a specialist cancer genetic clinic on a blood sample from the relative. The results can take many months to complete, as it is technically very difficult to identify the faulty gene. If a family gene is detected you will then be tested for this. If a faulty gene is not found it will not be possible for you to be tested. This does not mean that a fault does not exist; it could be that current technology could not pick it up. If you have been tested and do not carry the faulty gene your chances of developing breast cancer are the same as those of every other woman in the UK. If it is found that you do carry the faulty gene, although you will not necessarily develop breast cancer, you do have a higher risk of doing so.

More information : Genetic testing for breast cancer from Breast Cancer Care

Thermography
This is a new technique that is currently only available privately. Breast Thermal Imaging is a breast cancer screening procedure to help in early detection and monitoring of abnormal physiology and the establishment of risk facts for the development or existence of the cancer. It should be used in conjunction with other breast screening procedures rather than as an alternative.

It can detect cancer formation up to 10 years earlier than any other test is used extensively in the USA, no exposure to radiation and is used as part of an early detection program which gives women of all ages the opportunity to increase their chances of detecting breast disease at an early stage. It is particularly useful for women under 50 where mammography is less effective. It works by showing heat patterns that are strongly indicative of breast abnormality, the test can detect subtle changes in breast temperature that indicate a variety of breast diseases and abnormalities. follow-up procedures including mammography are necessary to rule out or properly diagnose cancer and a host of other breast diseases such as fibrocystic syndrome, Pagets disease, etc.

However this technique is still at an early stage, and gives a high number of "false-positives", i.e. it identifies cancer where none in fact exists, and can also miss actual cancer cells. That is why it is not an alternative to the mammogram and why it is not offered on the NHS at this time.

Further information : http://www.breastthermography.com - web site of an American facility that provides this service, therefore is very positive about this process.
Theremograhy information from Cancer Research UK, which is more sceptical about this approach.
This content was created on Wed 11 October 2006

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