Early screening for breast cancer

Currently, the screening methods for breast cancer at home and abroad mainly include mammography, clinical breast examination, breast self-examination, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound examination, and the most important screening method is still mammography.

Mammographic screening for breast cancer has been recommended and carried out for decades. Especially in diagnosing breast cancer without lumps, X-ray has its unique advantages. Mammographic examination can judge the potential risk of breast cancer by different types of breast parenchyma, thus helping to determine the subjects that need to be monitored in order to improve the effectiveness of early screening.

The American Cancer Society believes that mammography is the single most effective method for early screening of breast cancer. If combined with a clinical breast examination, mammography can effectively detect breast cancer in its early stages, when it is most treatable. Clinical breast examination alone has a low rate of detecting breast cancer as an early screening method. Therefore, it is often used in conjunction with mammography.

In addition, clinical breast examinations can also detect breast cancers that cannot be detected by mammography. In population studies, this proportion is 5%-7%. In addition, clinical breast examinations also provide an opportunity for women to receive education and be vigilant about the occurrence of breast cancer. Medical staff discuss with them various issues related to breast cancer, such as risk factors, genetic problems, and various new diagnostic methods, which can have indirect side effects. Breast self-examination is a simple, easy, free, safe and non-invasive examination method centered on the examiner. The examiner can perform it by himself without any equipment support.

There is no consensus on the effectiveness of breast self-examination in reducing breast cancer mortality, and its diagnostic value for breast cancer is also controversial. Most research reports believe that this method has no difference in reducing breast cancer mortality, and the stage and size of the tumor at diagnosis are not statistically significant. However, in the early screening guidelines for breast cancer released by the American Cancer Society in 2003, it is still recommended that women perform breast self-examination once a month starting at the age of 20.

In addition to the above three commonly used methods, the current research on breast cancer screening methods at home and abroad also includes magnetic resonance imaging and B-ultrasound examinations. The specificity of magnetic resonance imaging is lower than that of mammography, and its high cost, long examination time, and the need to inject contrast agents all limit the screening of the general population. B-ultrasound examination is not radioactive, so it is more suitable for young women, especially pregnant and lactating women. In addition, B-ultrasound examination is painless and non-destructive, and women are more likely to accept it. However, it requires certain experience and operating skills, and is time-consuming. More importantly, it often cannot clearly show tumors with a diameter of <1cm. However, with the development of technology and equipment, B-ultrasound examination will gradually become the main auxiliary means for early screening of breast cancer.