Mammogram Basics | How Does A Mammogram Work?

A screening mammogram is used to look for signs of breast cancer in women who don't have any breast symptoms or problems. X-ray pictures of each ... Whatpatientsandcaregiversneedtoknowabout cancer,coronavirus,andCOVID-19. CloseCriticalAlertBanner Search prod Verenespañol | Downloadthistopic[PDF] Mammograms MammogramBasics TipsforGettingaMammogram WhatDoestheDoctorLookforonaMammogram? GettingCalledBackAfteraMammogram UnderstandingYourMammogramReport BreastDensityandYourMammogramReport LimitationsofMammograms MammogramsAfterBreastCancerSurgery MammogramsforWomenwithBreastImplants CancerA-Z BreastCancer BreastCancerEarlyDetectionandDiagnosis Mammograms MammogramBasics Amammogramisalow-dosex-raythatallowsdoctorscalledradiologiststolookforchangesinbreasttissue. WhydoIneedmammograms? Amammogramcanoftenfindordetectbreastcancerearly,whenit’ssmallandevenbeforealumpcanbefelt.Thisiswhenit’seasiesttotreat. Whatarethemainusesofmammograms? Screeningmammograms Ascreeningmammogramisusedtolookforsignsofbreastcancerinwomenwhodon’thaveanybreastsymptomsorproblems.X-raypicturesofeachbreastaretaken,typicallyfrom2differentangles. Diagnosticmammograms Mammogramscanalsobeusedtolookatawoman’sbreastifshehasbreastsymptomsorifachangeisseenonascreeningmammogram.Whenusedinthisway,theyarecalleddiagnosticmammograms.Theymayincludeextraviews(images)ofthebreastthataren’tpartofscreeningmammograms.Sometimesdiagnosticmammogramsareusedtoscreenwomenwhoweretreatedforbreastcancerinthepast. Whatdomammogramsshow? Mammogramscanoftenshowabnormalareasinthebreast.Theycan’tprovethatanabnormalareaiscancer,buttheycanhelphealthcareprovidersdecidewhethermoretestingisneeded.The2maintypesofbreastchangesfoundwithamammogramarecalcificationsandmasses.LearnmoreabouttheseandotherbreastchangesinWhatDoestheDoctorLookforonaMammogram? Howdomammogramswork? Amammogramusesamachinedesignedtolookonlyatbreasttissue.Themachinetakesx-raysatlowerdosesthanusualx-rays.Becausethesex-raysdon’tgothroughtissueeasily,themachinehas2platesthatcompressorflattenthebreasttospreadthetissueapart.Thisgivesabetterpictureandallowslessradiationtobeused. Tolearnmoreabouthowtheyaredone,seeMammograms:WhattoKnowBeforeYouGo. Inthepast,mammogramsweretypicallyprintedonlargesheetsoffilm.Today,digitalmammogramsaremuchmorecommon. Digitalimagesarerecordedandsavedasfilesinacomputer.  Three-dimensional(3D)mammograms Forthisnewertypeofmammogram,alsoknownasbreasttomosynthesisordigitalbreasttomosynthesis(DBT),eachbreastiscompressedonce,andamachinetakesmanylow-dosex-raysasitmovesinanarcoverthebreast.Acomputerthenputstheimagestogetherintoaseriesofthinslices.Thisallowsdoctorstoseethebreasttissuesmoreclearlyinthreedimensions.(Astandardtwo-dimensional[2D]mammogramcanbetakenatthesametime,oritcanbereconstructedfromthe3Dmammogramimages.) Manystudieshavefoundthat3Dmammographyappearstolowerthechanceofbeingcalledbackforfollow-uptesting. Italsoappearstofindmorebreastcancers,andseveralstudieshaveshownitcanbehelpfulinwomenwithmoredensebreasts. Alargestudyisnowinprogresstobettercompareoutcomesbetween3Dmammogramsandstandard(2D)mammograms. Formoreon3Dmammograms,seeAmericanCancerSocietyRecommendationsfortheEarlyDetectionofBreastCancer. Aremammogramssafe? Mammogramsexposethebreaststosmallamountsofradiation.Butthebenefitsofmammographyoutweighanypossibleharmfromtheradiationexposure.Modernmachinesuselowradiationdosestogetbreastx-raysthatarehighinimagequality.Onaveragethetotaldoseforatypicalmammogramwith2viewsofeachbreastisabout0.4millisieverts, ormSv.(AmSvisameasureofradiationdose.)Theradiationdosefrom3Dmammogramscanrangefromslightlylowertoslightlyhigherthanthatfromstandardmammograms. Toputthesedosesintoperspective,peopleintheUSarenormallyexposedtoanaverageofabout3mSvofradiationeachyearjustfromtheirnaturalsurroundings. (Thisiscalledbackgroundradiation.)Thedoseofradiationusedforascreeningmammogramofbothbreastsisaboutthesameamountofradiationawomanwouldgetfromhernaturalsurroundingsoverabout7weeks. Ifthere’sanychanceyoumightbepregnant,letyourhealthcareproviderandx-raytechnologistknow.Althoughtherisktothefetusisverysmall,andmammogramsaregenerallythoughttobesafeduringpregnancy,screeningmammogramsaren’troutinelydoneinpregnantwomenwhoaren'tatincreasedriskforbreastcancer. Writtenby References TheAmericanCancerSocietymedicalandeditorialcontentteam Ourteamismadeupofdoctorsand oncologycertifiednurseswithdeepknowledgeofcancercareaswellasjournalists,editors,andtranslatorswithextensiveexperienceinmedicalwriting. HelvieMA,PattersonSK.Chapter11:ImagingAnalysis:Mammography.In:HarrisJR,LippmanME,MorrowM,OsborneCK,eds.DiseasesoftheBreast.5thed.Philadelphia,Pa:LippincottWilliams&Wilkins;2014. HendrickRE.Radiationdosesandcancerrisksfrombreastimagingstudies.Radiology.2010;257(1):246-253. OeffingerKC,FonthamET,EtzioniR,etal.Breastcancerscreeningforwomenataveragerisk:2015guidelineupdatefromtheAmericanCancerSociety.JAMA.2015;314(15):1599-614. PulitiD,DuffeySW,MiccinesiG,etal.OverdiagnosisinmammographicscreeningforbreastcancerinEurope:Aliteraturereview. JMedScreen, 2012;19:Suppl1:42-56. RadiologicalSocietyofNorthAmerica(RSNA).BreastTomosynthesis.2018.Accessedathttps://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=tomosynthesisonAugust20,2019. RoseSL,TidwellAL,BujnochLJ,etal.Implementationofbreasttomosynthesisinaroutinescreeningpractice:anobservationalstudy. AJRAmJRoentgenol.2013;200(6):1401-1408. SkaaneP,BandosAI,GullienR,etal.Comparisonofdigitalmammographyaloneanddigitalmammographyplustomosynthesisinapopulation-basedscreeningprogram.  Radiology.2013;267(1):47-56.  SvahnTM,HoussamiN,SechopoulosI,MattssonS.Reviewofradiationdoseestimatesindigitalbreasttomosynthesisrelativetothoseintwo-viewfull-fielddigitalmammography.Breast.2015;24(2):93-99. References HelvieMA,PattersonSK.Chapter11:ImagingAnalysis:Mammography.In:HarrisJR,LippmanME,MorrowM,OsborneCK,eds.DiseasesoftheBreast.5thed.Philadelphia,Pa:LippincottWilliams&Wilkins;2014. HendrickRE.Radiationdosesandcancerrisksfrombreastimagingstudies.Radiology.2010;257(1):246-253. OeffingerKC,FonthamET,EtzioniR,etal.Breastcancerscreeningforwomenataveragerisk:2015guidelineupdatefromtheAmericanCancerSociety.JAMA.2015;314(15):1599-614. PulitiD,DuffeySW,MiccinesiG,etal.OverdiagnosisinmammographicscreeningforbreastcancerinEurope:Aliteraturereview. JMedScreen, 2012;19:Suppl1:42-56. RadiologicalSocietyofNorthAmerica(RSNA).BreastTomosynthesis.2018.Accessedathttps://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=tomosynthesisonAugust20,2019. RoseSL,TidwellAL,BujnochLJ,etal.Implementationofbreasttomosynthesisinaroutinescreeningpractice:anobservationalstudy. AJRAmJRoentgenol.2013;200(6):1401-1408. SkaaneP,BandosAI,GullienR,etal.Comparisonofdigitalmammographyaloneanddigitalmammographyplustomosynthesisinapopulation-basedscreeningprogram.  Radiology.2013;267(1):47-56.  SvahnTM,HoussamiN,SechopoulosI,MattssonS.Reviewofradiationdoseestimatesindigitalbreasttomosynthesisrelativetothoseintwo-viewfull-fielddigitalmammography.Breast.2015;24(2):93-99. LastRevised:March5,2020 AmericanCancerSocietymedicalinformationiscopyrighted material.Forreprintrequests,pleaseseeourContentUsagePolicy. Mammograms MammogramBasics TipsforGettingaMammogram WhatDoestheDoctorLookforonaMammogram? GettingCalledBackAfteraMammogram UnderstandingYourMammogramReport BreastDensityandYourMammogramReport LimitationsofMammograms MammogramsAfterBreastCancerSurgery MammogramsforWomenwithBreastImplants MoreInBreastCancer AboutBreastCancer RiskandPrevention EarlyDetectionandDiagnosis UnderstandingaBreastCancerDiagnosis Treatment BreastReconstructionSurgery LivingasaBreastCancerSurvivor BackToTop Close * Close Imageof Previous Next Close Close SelectAHopeLodge