Ever since the 1980s, the mammogram has been the gold standard for detecting breast tumors. Using low-dose X-rays, these scans can find up to 90% of breast cancers in women who have no symptoms of the disease, giving them a critical head start in launching potentially lifesaving measures, such as surgery to remove suspicious growths. That's why the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends that all women over 40 receive annual mammogram screenings. Mammograms can come in the form of traditional film or digital scans. The latter give doctors more opportunity to enhance and manipulate an image, yet studies show that the two methods are equivalent when it comes to detecting tumors. But women at higher risk of the disease — those who already have cancer in one breast, for example, or have a family history of the disease — may benefit from another level of screening. For them, the acs has recommended adding a magnetic resonance image (MRI) to the annual mammogram. An MRI can produce a more detailed picture of breast tissue and hence improve the chances that the smallest lesions — sometimes missed by mammography X-rays — will be detected.
MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI)
What It is: Uses magnetic fields to create detailed images of body tissue and changes in blood flow
Fact: Though they can be beneficial in picking up tumors in women at high risk, MRIs are not recommended as a routine screen for the general population because they are expensive and tend to produce
more false positives than mammograms.
Fact: In the U.S. alone, about 1.4 million women at high risk of breast cancer could benefit from the additional screening.
Fact: Insurers do not always cover the cost of such supplemental MRI scans.
Cost: $1,000 or more.
MAMMOGRAM
What It Is: X-ray-based image that has been proved to detect a majority of breast cancers
Fact: About 5% to 10% of screens performed in the U.S. each year show abnormal results; most are false positives because of factors such as breast density and improper breast positioning during the test.
Fact: Mammograms account for up to 65% of the decline in U.S. deaths from breast cancer between 1975 and 2000. U.S. screening rates peaked in the early 2000s but began dropping in 2005 because of an increase in the population of the uninsured and immigrants, who are less likely to get tested.
Fact: Insurers do not always cover the cost of such supplemental MRI scans.
Cost: $50-$150