Causes of mammography

Mammography, like other X-ray examinations, uses ionizing radiation to image the human body, and radiologists analyze whether the image is abnormal. Despite continuous improvement, mammography has accumulated many objections in the medical field, especially its high misjudgment rate and radiation used in the examination. The false negative rate of mammography (no cancer detected) is at least 10%, partly because the small tumor is covered by dense tissue, and the tumor image overlaps with a large number of normal tissues during photography, which is difficult to distinguish. In addition, a few patients have false positives (abnormal, but not cancer).

Even so, mammography still plays an important role in screening early breast cancer. It can find tumors before patients or doctors touch them, even two years before palpation. AMA(American Medical Association) and many medical associations recommend that women over 40 years old have an annual mammogram, because some studies have confirmed that annual screening can detect breast cancer early, and most of the early breast cancer can be cured, so they have a better chance to keep their breasts.

The National Cancer Center (NCI) further pointed out that people with a family history of breast cancer have a higher risk than the general population. It is best to consult a doctor to see if breast cancer screening should be started before the age of 40, and how often is appropriate.

The so-called screening is done for the public, even if the subject has no symptoms at all. If any abnormality is found, further examination is needed (see later), because it is impossible to judge whether it is benign or malignant from the X-ray images of breast. As for the lesions found by palpation or other examinations, mammography can also be used for further evaluation.