Breast Cancer Screenings
A woman living with breast cancer would undergo different tests to determine if and where the cancer has spread. Here is a brief overview of the different types of image tests:
Before women choose their breast cancer treatment with their physicians, they have chest x-rays to determine their heart and lung capacity. This test evaluates the lungs, heart, ribs, and diaphragm and is the most common diagnostic x-ray examination. It produces images of the heart, lungs, airways, blood vessels and spinal and chest bones and is generally completed within 15 minutes. This procedure is painless and physicians can have results almost immediately.
The mammogram is an x-ray test that is used for women with signs or no signs of breast cancer. It is recommended by the National Cancer institute that women above age 40 get a mammogram every one to two years. It is also stated that women of higher risks may need to be checked more often or earlier than age 40. Physicians insist that if you are at higher risk, the most effective way to identify breast cancer early is through both a clinical breast exam and mammogram.
The bone scan checks to see if cancer has spread from a tumor in an organ to their bones. It checks the entire body at once by inserting radioactive material into blood vessels that travel throughout the patient's bloodstream. After it has traveled a scanner then checks to see the material collect in the bones.
A Computed Tomography (CT) Scan is a machine that rotates around a patient and takes several pictures of the body. The pictures are then merged and sliced into different parts of the body, which are usually the chest and abdomen in breast cancer patients. The process of this type of imaging test lasts for a longer time period than other x-ray exams, as the patient lies still on a table that moves in and out of the scanning machine.
The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scan uses radio waves and strong magnets that are turned into detailed pictures of the body to check for tumors. If the patient has been already diagnosed MRI scans can be used to determine the size of the tumor.
The ultrasound technique produces pictures, called sonograms, of soft tissues that do not always appear on x-rays. For breast cancer patients, ultrasounds are used to differentiate between tumors and cysts, as well as to inspect lumps that are difficult to see on mammograms. They are commonly used and less expensive than other image tests.
PET scans are not as detailed as CT or MRI scans, but is useful for finding out where the cancer has spread across the entire body. The way this is done is by injecting the patient with a substance of sugar and radioactive material and after 45 minutes of the substance flowing through the body, the PET scanner translates the radiation it detects into pictures.
Before women choose their breast cancer treatment with their physicians, they have chest x-rays to determine their heart and lung capacity. This test evaluates the lungs, heart, ribs, and diaphragm and is the most common diagnostic x-ray examination. It produces images of the heart, lungs, airways, blood vessels and spinal and chest bones and is generally completed within 15 minutes. This procedure is painless and physicians can have results almost immediately.
The mammogram is an x-ray test that is used for women with signs or no signs of breast cancer. It is recommended by the National Cancer institute that women above age 40 get a mammogram every one to two years. It is also stated that women of higher risks may need to be checked more often or earlier than age 40. Physicians insist that if you are at higher risk, the most effective way to identify breast cancer early is through both a clinical breast exam and mammogram.
The bone scan checks to see if cancer has spread from a tumor in an organ to their bones. It checks the entire body at once by inserting radioactive material into blood vessels that travel throughout the patient's bloodstream. After it has traveled a scanner then checks to see the material collect in the bones.
A Computed Tomography (CT) Scan is a machine that rotates around a patient and takes several pictures of the body. The pictures are then merged and sliced into different parts of the body, which are usually the chest and abdomen in breast cancer patients. The process of this type of imaging test lasts for a longer time period than other x-ray exams, as the patient lies still on a table that moves in and out of the scanning machine.
The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scan uses radio waves and strong magnets that are turned into detailed pictures of the body to check for tumors. If the patient has been already diagnosed MRI scans can be used to determine the size of the tumor.
The ultrasound technique produces pictures, called sonograms, of soft tissues that do not always appear on x-rays. For breast cancer patients, ultrasounds are used to differentiate between tumors and cysts, as well as to inspect lumps that are difficult to see on mammograms. They are commonly used and less expensive than other image tests.
PET scans are not as detailed as CT or MRI scans, but is useful for finding out where the cancer has spread across the entire body. The way this is done is by injecting the patient with a substance of sugar and radioactive material and after 45 minutes of the substance flowing through the body, the PET scanner translates the radiation it detects into pictures.
About the Author:
SaveRBoobies offers free resources and information to women before and after breast cancer treatments. View video interviews with surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, nutritionists, yoga instructors, survivors, and more. SaveRBoobies strives to support breast cancer charities that provide direct services to women by donating portions of its breast cancer apparel sales.
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