|
Tests
There are a host of different tests for breast cancer. Screening tests are those given regularly to apparently healthy individuals to find disease while it's still in more-treatable early stages. Diagnostic tests are given to individuals who have signs or symptoms, in order to establish the presence and severity of a disease. Genetic testing can help determine whether you are at a particularly high risk for the disease.
Besides the monthly self-exam, screening tests women typically undergo on a routine basis are mammography and clinical breast examination, in which a healthcare provider systematically palpates the breasts to detect changes or irregularities. Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, may be used as well, although it usually is reserved primarily for women who, because they are carriers of the breast cancer gene, are at very high risk of developing the disease.
Besides being a screening tool, mammography is used to further examine a lump or area of new concern. Also, ultrasound may be used as a complementary study to diagnostic mammography to evaluate a suspicious mass. Once a lump or lesion is confirmed through breast imaging and/or a clinical breast exam, women typically undergo a biopsy, in which tissue is obtained for analysis. This analysis will tell your doctor whether the sampled cells are cancerous or benign.
This section includes information on:
|
