The mammography is the best radiological method available at this time with which it can detect the breast cancer early. It is a special type of radiological examination of the breast, carried out using special equipment that can reveal the breast nodules even the ones which are very small to be palpable.

Breast cancer is one of the most common and dangerous diseases which is affecting the female population of the world. Asymptomatic women over 35 should perform a mammogram once in every two years, annual they should perform a breast ultrasound examination and monthly a self-examination.

For the women which represent a higher risk of developing breast cancer, such as families with breast cancer history, with personal history, fibroids, the mammogram should be performed only with the doctor’s order but it should not replace the regular self-examination or the regular consultation.

The mammogram is a simple procedure. According to specialists, most of the breast nodules are not malignant. Even if the breast cancer is detected, it can be treated. Although mammograms, same like the most medical tests, does not have a 100% accuracy, but still, the regular monitoring with the help of mammography, is the best way to discover breast cancer early, before it will appear the signs or symptoms of cancer. Some studies have shown that mammograms reduce the death rate caused of breast cancer, with more then a third.

Mammography - The procedure: The mammography is an x-ray examination which is using low doses of radiation. The examination must be done preferably during the first half of the menstruation period, and is always bilateral and involves at least two clichés – front and profile – of each breast. Sometimes it requires a third cliché – oblique which is allowing the exploration of the axillary cavities. The radiologist places the patient half stripped in front of the device and before each cliché, he compresses the breast between card port video and a transparent plate.

The mammography requires a previous training only if there exists some leakage trough nipple, situation at which is making a prior opacification of galactofor channels by injecting a contrast product; this procedure is called galactography.

The procedure of processing and developing the film are strictly controlled in order to obtain the best quality image. The mammograms are used to diagnose the changes or the structure abnormalities detected by the self-examination or clinical examination, being used as screening to detect early cancer.

Mammography - Reading the results: Even if we talk about a method what uses X-rays, their quantity is reduced and so the specialists say that the benefits of screening outweigh any kind of risks due to irradiation. Mammography helps to detecting the breast cancer in the first stage of evolution, at the dimensions of 5 mm, while the clinical examination it will detect when the tumor has at least 1 cm in diameter.

In a few cases, the accuracy of the mammogram is lower then usual. For the women with a breast implant, the ability of mammograms to detect abnormalities drops from 92% to 33% because the implant content –liquid or gel– can obstruct the view, as well as the scar tissue that forms around the implant. When the mammogram is false positive it means that the screening shows that there are anomalies but these prove not to be cancer. Most of these false positive results will prove to be negative for cancer. At all ages, 5-10 % of the mammograms are abnormal and they are followed by additional tests – sampling, surgical biopsy or ultrasound.