Table of Contents
Mammography in Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Introduction
Breast cancer is one of the most common sicknesses in women all over the world, and new cases of this disease appear annually. There is evidence that breast cancer diagnosis at an early stage, together with acting appropriately, increases survival rates among patients. Mammography is a development in diagnosing breast lesions in cancer and has given useful information in characterizing tissue types.
Mammography: A Brief Overview
Mammography screening focuses on the breast tissue and uses low-energy X-rays similar to low-power visible light. It was first implemented in 1963, and being a mammography technique is now accepted as the common mode of breast cancer screening. Mammography can detect both invasive and non-invasive breast tumors, hence social to checking the illness at initial stages.

Breast cancer detection using mammograms
1. Screening for Breast Cancer
Mammography is mainly applied in breast cancer screening, which is the regular examination of asymptomatic women’s breast tissue in an attempt to discover signs and symptoms of cancer early. Screening mammography is an intent to make a mass breast cancer detectable in a phase where it can be cured effortlessly. For many years, mammography has been used as the most effective method of breast cancer screening since it is effective in reducing breast cancer mortality due to early detection of cancer.
2. Diagnostic Mammography
Mammography is also used in diagnostic examination for symptomatic women, those who present with certain signs and symptoms of breast cancer, which include breast lumps, nipple discharge, or skin changes. Diagnostic mammography offers even greater clarity of the breast, so the physicians are better placed to make sound decisions regarding the management of the abnormality.
Advantages of Mammography
1. High Sensitivity and High Specificity
One of mammography’s strengths is its high sensitivity, which is the extent to which a test correctly identifies those who have the disease, and high specificity, which calculates the ability to correctly identify those who do not have the disease. That is why mammography can detect breast cancer up to two years before it is palpable during a clinical examination.
2. Low-Dose Radiation
Mammography, unlike most other imaging methods, employs a substantially lower dose of ionizing radiation and thereby has a minimized risk of radiation-caused breast cancer. Again, the chances of developing radiation-induced breast cancer are small, even when mammography is done frequently and at the correct year intervals.
Limitations of Mammography
1. Two risks that are associated with screening, particularly overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
Mammography creates overdiagnosis where benign breast lesions are diagnosed as cancerous and treated as cancerous. This can lead to overdiagnosis, on occasion leading to overtreatment such as performing needless operations, irradiation, or chemotherapy. It is clear that alone with breast cancer screening, excessive diagnosis and subsequent overtreatment are very real concerns, and steps are being taken to minimize them by optimizing the imaging methods and risk profiling.
2. Two characteristics of reported ideas are prominent: the false positive rate and the recall rate.
However, mammography can also give an incorrect positive result, meaning that the doctor will see a lesion on the breast that they will consider cancerous when it is not. This can lead to patient anxiety, further tests, and friousness, which in many cases leads to biopsies that are not needed. High false-positive rates can also lead to poor patient compliance with screening programs.
3. Dense Breast Tissue
Mammography has reduced accuracy in women with dense breast tissue since the tissues hinder cancerous lesions from visibility, causing false negatives. Women with high-density breasts are at the industry standard for breast cancer and could require other imaging modalities like ultrasonography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Recent technological developments in mammography
1. Digital Mammography
Digital mammography entails taking mammograms in digital form and storing them as digital images that can be easily transmitted, stored, and retrieved. Screening mammography has become enhanced through the use of digital technology, thus enabling radiologists to visualize small breast abnormalities and apply minimal repeat imaging.

2. This greatly applies to 3D mammography, also known as tomosynthesis
DBT, or three-dimensional mammography, is another imaging modality that takes multiple low-dose X-ray images of the breast from different positions. These images are then reconstructed into a 3D volume, so a radiologist can see the breast tissue in thin sections, which facilitates the lesion detection and minimizes false-positive results.

3. Contrast-Enhanced Mammography
Contrast mammography entails administering a contrast agent commonly known as the dye and then taking images of the breast using a Digital Breast Mammography System. This technique seems to capture angiogenesis, a factor that seems to be associated with cancer and hence proves useful in mammography.
