Screening for Breast Cancer

Expert Quote

“A screening test tries to find a disease before there are any symptoms. With breast cancer, there's a misconception that if you feel fine, don't have a lump, and have no family history of breast cancer, you're okay. The truth is that three-quarters of the women in whom we find breast cancer have no risk factors. So screening is important for everyone.”

Susan Greenstein Orel M.D.

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When doctors screen for breast cancer—just as when they screen for any disease—they look at healthy people with no symptoms to see if they can find any early signs of the disease.

Today, three screening tests are routinely done for breast cancer:

• Mammography
• Breast physical exam, done by a doctor
• Breast self-exam

Mammography is one technique doctors use to screen for breast cancer. But it is also used to diagnose breast cancer. Diagnostic mammography is different from screening mammography in that it usually focuses on a specific area of concern, with a mammography technician and a radiologist coordinating to get the images your doctor needs to address your concern.

Here's a summary of how the two types of mammograms differ:

Breast physical exam

A breast exam by a doctor helps find lumps that women may miss with their own self-exams. While it's true that most lumps are found by women themselves, the abnormality in a breast can be so difficult to feel that only someone with experience would recognize it. Lumps, thickening, asymmetry—changes in your breasts that you may not notice or think are "normal"—may be detected by a doctor who examines many breasts regularly. Studies show that regular self-exam, COMBINED with an annual exam by a doctor, improves the chances of detecting cancer early.