Mammography
Mammography is an X-ray examination of your breasts. It can detect tumors and other breast abnormalities before they can be felt. Mammography is of great value in finding breast cancer at an early stage, when the cure rate can be more than 90 percent. The amount of radiation involved in mammography is low, and repeat examinations can be done without fear of overexposure to radiation.

Why Do the Exam?
Mammography helps you to actively fight breast disease. When combined with self-examination and physician examination, mammography can find changes in breast tissue more than 90 percent of the time. Because of this, mammograms can reduce your chances of dying from breast cancer (the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American women). Breast cancer kills more than 43,000 women annually.

According to the National Cancer Institute, mammography can detect up to 92 percent of breast cancers, with about 60 percent of these still in the earliest stages. When cancer is confined to the breast, 87 percent of its victims will still be alive in five years. The percentage drops to 47 when the cancer is detected at a later stage and has spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body.

Because breast lumps can grow unnoticed for years, it is well worth having a mammogram. A lump the size of a pea can be missed by physical examination. This can occur for up to ten years after the time when mammography could have found the lump.

How the Exam Works
In mammography, a low-dose X-ray of your breast is taken. The X-ray shows your breast's internal structure, and allows both cancerous and non-cancerous growths to be identified at their earliest stages.

The image created by mammography is called a mammogram. To obtain it, a technician causes an X-ray to pass through your breast, making an image on a film or plate. Then, a highly trained radiologist can study the picture and pinpoint suspicious signs.

Doing the Exam
A trained radiologist takes the X-ray, sometimes with the help of a female technician. Depending on the equipment used, you may be asked to stand, sit or lie down. When you are settled, the technician will position your breasts on the machine. Since positioning is extremely important to the quality of the picture, the technician will make any adjustments needed.

The arm of the X-ray machine will press firmly against your breast, flattening it. This should not hurt--although it may be slightly uncomfortable--because the machine is cushioned with a plastic or spongy material. The pressure reduces the thickness of the breast and enables the technician to take a better picture. It also means less radiation is needed.

So that all internal breast tissue is seen, at least two X-rays will be taken from two different angles. The first picture is generally taken from above. For the second exposure, you may be asked to lie on your side. Then, your breast will be gently pressed between the shaft of the X-ray machine and the film plate. The process usually takes less than an hour.

Your Preparation

• No preparation is necessary, although you'll be required to undress from the waist up. You will probably be asked to avoid the use of deodorants, powders or other body cosmetics since they may cast a shadow on the X-ray.
• The amount of radiation used in mammography is very small, but you should not undergo mammography if you are pregnant because even a low dose of radiation can be harmful to the fetus. So, be sure to tell your doctor if you are expecting a baby.
• Because you may experience some slight discomfort when your breasts are compressed during mammography, you may wish to schedule your exam for the week following your menstrual period when your breasts are the least tender.

After the Exam
The mammogram will be studied by the radiologist who will report the results to your personal doctor. She will then discuss the findings with you.

Remember
Mammograms are your best weapon in your fight against breast cancer, although they do not always detect early breast disease.

The American Cancer Society recommends that you have a baseline (first) mammogram between the ages of 35 and 39. This will be used as a reference against which to note any changes shown by later mammograms. Between the ages of 40 and 49, you should have one every year, because the risk of breast cancer increases with age.