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Mammography: who, when, and why?
1Department of Radiology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta 30912, USA.
Breast cancer screening includes two equally important components: mammography and routine physical examination. Screening mammography reduces breast cancer mortality by about 40% in women over age 50, but its role in younger women remains controversial. In roughly 40% of patients, the mammogram will be the only screening modality that detects a cancer. Mammography only detects about 90% of cancers; it misses 10%. Therefore, a suspicious region detected during a physical examination should never be ignored, even if the mammogram is interpreted as normal.
Breast cancer screening includes two equally important components: mammography and routine physical examination. Screening mammography reduces breast cancer mortality by about 40% in women over age 50, but its role in younger women remains controversial. In roughly 40% of patients, the mammogram will be the only screening modality that detects a cancer. Mammography only detects about 90% of cancers; it misses 10%. Therefore, a suspicious region detected during a physical examination should never be ignored, even if the mammogram is interpreted as normal.