Women may have anxiety about breast cancer screening mammograms due to concerns about inaccurate results or missed cancerous lumps. Factors that can cause inaccurate results include breast tissue density, family history, and medication use. Choosing a facility with an on-site breast imaging specialist and a radiologist with breast imaging fellowship can improve accuracy. Pre-menopausal women should schedule mammograms for the week following their period. Digital mammography is more accurate than traditional mammography.
A large part of a woman’s anxiety about having a breast cancer screening mammogram may be her concern that the mammogram results may not be accurate and could lead to a false positive result or worse, a cancerous lump. missed. A malignant lump appears as a white area on a mammogram, unfortunately similar to many benign lumps and normal dense breast tissue. Some of the factors that cause inaccurate mammography results include scheduling a screening mammogram for the week after your period ends and not wearing antiperspirants or deodorants on the day of your screening mammogram procedure. Women should choose mammography facilities and radiologists wisely. Other factors that influence a mammogram screening are beyond a woman’s control, such as her age, breast tissue density, or family history of breast cancer.
A mammogram is a type of X-ray screening of breast tissue used to look for abnormalities in the breast tissue that may indicate cancerous lumps. The breast tissue is made up of fibrous connective tissue and fatty tissue. Normal breast tissue shows up on a mammogram as white spots, while fatty tissue is the dark space in between. Unfortunately, normal dense breast tissue can mimic the appearance of malignant lumps, obscure readings, or mask breast cancer. Younger women often have denser breast tissue on average than older women.
Some women at risk for false-positive mammography results are those who have a family history of breast cancer, women who have received radiation or chemotherapy for other cancers, and women who take estrogen. One possible reason for this could be because these women are at increased risk of breast cancer and the radiologist is extremely cautious about any suspicious mammogram results. Another possibility is that medications and hormones can cause changes in the breast tissue itself.
Mammograms miss about 15 to 20 percent of all breast cancers. Although many of these are visible on x-rays and overlooked, many cancers are missed due to dense breast tissue or breast implants obscuring the findings. Women with implants should inform the mammography facility when making their appointment and ask for a radiologist experienced in screening women who have had breast implants.
Pre-menopausal women should try to schedule mammograms for the week following their period. During the two weeks before your period, your breasts may become swollen and tender. Swelling can make it more difficult to get accurate mammogram results, while tenderness can make a woman feel more uncomfortable during the procedure.
Women can improve the chances that their mammogram results will be accurate by choosing a facility that employs an on-site breast imaging specialist and by choosing a radiologist who is checked frequently and who has completed a breast imaging fellowship. One study showed that establishments meeting these qualifications performed more accurately. Digital mammography has been shown to be more accurate than traditional mammography, so women at increased risk of inaccurate results may wish to choose a facility that uses digital mammography technology.
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