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Can you speak to heterogeneous or dense breasts (ie bi-rad 3/4) and what modalities supplement screening mammograms to detect mammographically occult lesions?
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Expert Answers
CancerQuest (Organization (Verified) ) - 09 / 15 / 2011
First, to clarify, I am NOT an MD or a clinician, I am a PhD and my area of expertise is in cancer biology. That being said, there are several different methods, in addition to mammography, that can be used to screen for breast cancer.
1. Ultrasound- Ultrasound is the use of high frequency sound waves that 'bounce' off of internal structures and can provide a picture of the inside of a breast.
2. Elastography- This is a variant of ultrasound in which two different images are obtained. The breast is imaged in the normal way and is then re-imaged while it is being compressed (squashed). The idea behind this is that normal breast tissue will easily squash down but cancers are hard and do not change shape when the breast is flattened out. When the two images are compared, areas can be identified that failed to flatten out.
3. Breast MRI-Magnetic resonance imaging uses a strong magnet to alter the properties of the water in the tissue being examined (breast tissue in this case) to create an image of the breast.
If any of the methods above lead to the suspicion of cancer, a biopsy can be performed to determine if cancer is present. Note that NO medical test is perfect and it is important to understand the limitations of the tests (see below).
Learn more about cancer detection and diagnosis methods on the CancerQuest website:http://www.cancerquest.org/cancer-detection-diagnosis. Videos are also available about medical testing.
1. Ultrasound- Ultrasound is the use of high frequency sound waves that 'bounce' off of internal structures and can provide a picture of the inside of a breast.
2. Elastography- This is a variant of ultrasound in which two different images are obtained. The breast is imaged in the normal way and is then re-imaged while it is being compressed (squashed). The idea behind this is that normal breast tissue will easily squash down but cancers are hard and do not change shape when the breast is flattened out. When the two images are compared, areas can be identified that failed to flatten out.
3. Breast MRI-Magnetic resonance imaging uses a strong magnet to alter the properties of the water in the tissue being examined (breast tissue in this case) to create an image of the breast.
If any of the methods above lead to the suspicion of cancer, a biopsy can be performed to determine if cancer is present. Note that NO medical test is perfect and it is important to understand the limitations of the tests (see below).
Learn more about cancer detection and diagnosis methods on the CancerQuest website:http://www.cancerquest.org/cancer-detection-diagnosis. Videos are also available about medical testing.
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