Breast cancer is a common malignant tumor in women, but with the current technology, it can be detected, diagnosed and treated early, and if regular screening is performed, asymptomatic early stage patients can also be detected. Nowadays, there are many non-invasive tests for breast cancer, is the more expensive one better? Do you know which one is more suitable for you?
Mammography can detect early breast cancer
Most of the really early breast cancers are not clinically palpable lumps, and calcification in the breast parenchyma is the most common or even the only sign of early breast cancer. It is clinically proven that the use of mammography has significantly increased the detection rate of early breast cancer.
Mammography is particularly suitable for fluoroscopic imaging of soft tissues and is low in radiation. It is especially useful for women over 40 years of age, when most of the breast gland is degenerated and less sensitive to radiation, and has less impact. With the advent of technology and the emergence of all-digital mammography machines, the amount of radiation is further reduced and no special protective measures are required for medical personnel, who operate only behind lead glass. With its clear imaging, outstanding features and high sensitivity, mammography has become the most effective means of early diagnosis of breast cancer, which can not only detect cancer at least one year earlier than clinical detection, but can even detect cancer tumors smaller than 5 mm.
Suitable groups: women over 40 years old; women with high-risk factors (family history of breast cancer, atypical hyperplasia, carcinoma in situ of the breast, etc.) should undergo mammography every 1 to 1.5 years; for young women under 40 years old, too frequent examinations will cause damage to their breast tissue. However, when a highly suspicious malignant lesion is encountered, continuous examinations for a certain period of time are not uncommon. This is because the value of early detection of breast cancer far outweighs the risks associated with radiation.
Ultrasound for suspected lumps in the breast
Ultrasound is easy, quick, non-invasive, non-damaging and reproducible, especially suitable for the examination of pregnant and breastfeeding women and the screening of breast diseases; it can accurately locate the lesion, especially for the diagnosis of breast lumps >1cm in diameter with better specificity and accuracy. It has high value for young women with denser breast tissue, and can determine whether there is a lump in the breast and its size and location, identify whether the lump is cystic or solid, as well as follow-up examination of breast lumps and postoperative follow-up examination. However, its ability to identify lumps less than 1 cm in diameter is limited, and for some lesions with only structural changes in the breast, it needs to be combined with other tests for diagnosis.
Suitable population: It is suitable for women of all age groups and different physiological cycles, especially for Oriental women and young women. Ultrasound examination can be done at any time, but is more effective within 3 to 7 days after menstruation.
High accuracy of lactoscopy
Breast ductoscopy is an examination method that uses a breast duct endoscope with an outside diameter of only 0.9 mm to enter the lumen of the lesion and observe the location and shape of the lesion, which is roughly the same as the principle of gastroscopy. The diagnostic accuracy is higher when lactoscopy is combined with cytological examination.
Features.
1, Image visualization, can detect micro lesions in the ducts of the breast.
2.Accurate localization of lesions can reduce the scope of excision and the trauma of surgery; it can avoid unnecessary surgery for patients with non-tumor papillary overflow.
3, compared with ordinary endoscopic imaging, mammary ductoscopy contains a limited number of optical fibers, the imaging resolution is relatively low, but does not affect the diagnosis, the identification of benign and malignant advantages difficult.
Appropriate population: it is suitable for women of any age, and for patients with nipple discharge during non-lactation, especially for patients with single-hole nipple bloody and plasma overflow and clear water overflow.
CT examination mostly provides information about extra-mammary organs
The examination is expensive, has radiation, is not suitable for lactating and pregnant women, and should not be used as a routine examination.
Suitable for: Suitable for breast lesions whose clinical diagnosis is unclear and difficult to be detected and characterized by X-rays and other examination methods.
MRI is a complement to mammography
MRI is a technique that uses the signals generated by the resonance of atomic nuclei in a magnetic field to reconstruct and image the nature of the lesion, mainly based on the morphology and the strength of the signal.
Features.
1. It is not affected by the density of the breast, and can detect very small lesions.
2.It can show the situation in the milk ducts well and help the diagnosis of nipple overflow.
3.Enhanced scan is not recommended around 1 week before and after menstruation.
Suitable groups: screening means for women with high risk of breast cancer; women in pregnancy, breast cancer patients with the will to preserve breast and nipple overflow patients.