Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis

ashish — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:15:55 +0000

The prognosis of breast cancer is closely related to the stage of disease at the time of diagnosis, therefore screening for breast cancer is extremely important. Breast cancer screening refers to testing otherwise-healthy women for breast cancer in an attempt to achieve an earlier diagnosis. Screening can help doctors find and treat cancer early.

Self Breast Exam

Changes in the breast can occur because of aging, your menstrual cycle, pregnancy, menopause, or taking birth control pills or other hormones. Breast self-exams cannot replace regular screening mammograms and clinical breast exams.

Mammographic Screening

The first diagnostic tool to identify breast cancer is Mammogram. It is an X-ray of the breast that can show the presence of abnormal growth lumps in the breast area.

Ultra-Sonography

Use of high frequency sound waves often identifies whether the lump is filled with liquid or solid for further investigation.

Clinical Breast Exam

During a clinical breast exam, your health care provider checks your breasts. You may be asked to raise your arms over your head, let them hang by your sides, or press your hands against your hips. The skin of your breasts is checked for a rash, dimpling, or other abnormal signs. Your nipples may be squeezed to check for fluid. A thorough clinical check up takes about 10 min.

Aspiration

Fine needle is inserted in the lump to take the tissue or liquid out from the lump and then a biopsy is performed to test for carcinoma.

Surgical Biopsy

Surgical biopsy removes a small part of lump by surgery and then the lump is tested for further diagnosis.