UMC published the following story written by Ruth Cummins.
Getting screened for breast cancer by University of Mississippi Medical
Center caregivers, Cindy Ayers-Elliott says, could have saved her life.
Ayers-Elliott, a Jackson resident and full-time farmer, hadn’t gone in for a mammogram in two years. She took advantage of the See, Test and Treat
program, a part of the College of American Pathologists Foundation,
offered annually at UMMC’s Cancer Center and Research Institute at the
Jackson Medical Mall.
The
free breast and cervical cancer screens especially target uninsured
and underinsured women. Ayers-Elliott, a former investment banker, got
unsettling news after her mammogram.
“There
was a little mass showing,” she said. “I had to do another screening.
UMMC made it all so seamless and easy, and they reached back to my last
mammogram at a different place and got my records. They were able to
compare the scans to make a better decision on what to do.”
The
second scan confirmed the mass was fatty tissue, not cancer, but it
strengthened Ayers Elliott’s resolve never to miss another annual
mammogram. “Every woman should have the opportunity to have peace of
mind about her body,” Ayers-Elliott said. “To have this done made a big
difference in my peace of mind.”
Her
message drives home the purpose of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Observed every October and organized by major breast cancer charities
nationwide, it strives to raise awareness about the importance of
finding breast cancer early through screenings such as a mammogram.
Dr.
Shawn McKinney, associate professor of surgery and a fellowship-trained
breast surgeon, said breast cancer screenings can detect cancer in its
earliest, most treatable stage.
“It
is important for women to get regular yearly screening mammography in
order for the radiologist to compare the images and potentially pick up
subtle changes before symptoms arise such as a palpable mass,” McKinney
said. “If an early-stage breast cancer is found, the patient has the
potential to avoid more aggressive surgery and/or chemotherapy. The
later, and larger the abnormality, the greater the likelihood that more
aggressive therapy will be needed.”
A
mammogram is an X-ray of the breast that detects breast changes. In a
process that should take no more than 20 minutes, the breast is
compressed between two plastic plates for a few seconds while an X-ray
is taken. It’s repositioned and compressed again several times to take
different views.
Flattening
the breast is uncomfortable, but it’s needed to provide a clearer view.
If a doctor finds something suspicious, he or she will usually have the
patient return for new X-rays or other tests. Suspicious readings could
mean dense or fatty breast tissue, a cyst, an abscess or a tumor, which
could be benign or cancerous.
The
Medical Center also offers three-dimensional mammograms, capturing
multiple slices of the breast at different angles, then bringing them
together to create crystal-clear images that reconstruct the patient’s
breast.
Breast
cancer develops from cells in the breast, with the most common sign a
new lump or mass. Other signs include swelling of part of a breast, even
if no lump is present; skin irritation or dimpling; nipple pain or
retraction; redness or scaly appearance of the nipple or breast skin; or
a discharge other than breast milk.
Most
lumps or masses are benign, but the earlier breast cancer is found, the
better the chances for successful treatment. A mammogram can often show
breast changes that could be cancer before physical symptoms develop.
The
American Cancer Society estimates that this year, there will be 268,600
new cases of breast cancer in women and 2,670 in men. Deaths caused by
breast cancer this year are estimated at 41,760 for women and 500 for
men.
And,
the society says, the five-year relative survival rate for a breast
cancer that hasn’t yet spread is 99 percent, and for that same time
period for all breast cancer stages combined, 92 percent for white women
and 83 percent for African-American women.
Those
most at risk of invasive breast cancers are women age 50 or older, but
being a woman is the main risk factor. Breast cancer risk also is higher
among women with a family history. It’s important to remember, though,
that most women with breast cancer don’t have a close relative who had
the disease.
The
Medical Center follows the guidelines of the National Comprehensive
Cancer Network, which recommends that women of average risk for breast
cancer get a breast exam every year beginning at age 25, and an annual
screening beginning at age 40. The NCCN also says women should consider
three-dimensional mammography for their annual screening.
In
some cases, the NCCN recommends more frequent or earlier mammograms for
women at increased risk because of personal or family breast cancer
history.
8 comments:
Sadly, good intentions and a bias in favor of "screening" (and incentivized specialties like radiology) drive mammography. The hard-core truth is that there is little benefit from mammography. But you can't tell that to the believers ("They saved my life"). Ask the thousands of women who have gone through repeated biopsies (for benign disease) and who are left with scars if mammography "saves lives." Huge area of medical controversy.
5:56 - No more 'huge' than the MRI equipment owned by groups of doctors who refer their patients to each others' machines (in order to appear ethical). And the same with their ownership of physical therapy store-fronts.
Ahem; one of the physicians/surgeons at Capital Ortho owns the surgical building/clinic he uses on Lakeland. And every 'foot doctor' in town sells ortho shoes in his/her lobby. Need we also address all the optometrists who make the big bucks selling lenses and frames?
It's all a money-grabbing shit-show.
No controversy here, my wife found a very early stage 1 cancer through screening.
October 23, 2019 at 5:56 PM: You couldn't be more misinformed about the value of mammography. Don't take one story out of Redbook and use it as a substitute for decades of epidemiological research.
5:56.
What’s better having a mammogram and finding it benign or not having one and finding it at stage 4. Like many my wife is still alive because hers was discovered early and treatment was effective. You and yours are free to do as you wish but don’t be critical of those that choose to minimize their risk.
To those who have made ignorant comments about my 5:56 posting: Please learn to read the medical literature and actually think. Here are tow (of many) articles slamming screening mammography. You may be familiar with (not Redbook) JAMA Oncology and the European Journal of Cancer? Or do you read?
Overestimation of the Benefit-to-Harm Ratio of Risk-Based Mammography Screening in the United Kingdom.
Autier P.
JAMA Oncol. 2019 Mar
Mammography screening: A major issue in medicine.
Autier P, Boniol M.
Eur J Cancer. 2018
2:55. I’m sure the “free” health care program in the UK advocates limiting test because of the cost that’s all well and good as long as you’re not the one who would have benefited. There are many advocating not doing PSA test for the same reasons. I’ve had a lot of friends who have had prostrate cancer. Those who had their PSA checked on a regular basis and got it early are still. The others are in the ground. I’ll take my chinches with a false positive you do your way
2:55. The PSA is one of th worst clinical tests ever relied upon. At a minimum, you should never accept it without a full understanding of what it does: PSA puts you on a conveyor belt to biopsy and all its complications including a nasty infection, possible hospitalization and occasional death. It can be "normal" in cancer. Worse, most of the "abnormal" levels are not meaningful cancer. So after the conveyor belt takes you to biopsy, the biopsy (e.g., Gleason grade 3+3 adenocarcinoma) leads you to surgery (including total prostatectomy) or radiation, neither of which you need! You can safely do nothing with such "cancers" because they do not kill. I am not a fan of the plaintiff bar, but it will hep us all when Morgan and Morgan start going after the horrendous over-treatment of prostate "cancer."
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