The incidence of breast cancer has increased in women under 40 years of age.
Breast cancer is the most common malignant disease in women in Europe and North America, and an increase in incidence has been observed in recent years in women under 40 years of age. It is a health and social problem of great concern to the general population and the scientific community.
Thanks to advances in radiology, especially in mammography, it is possible to detect precancerous and malignant lesions in their earliest manifestation, which has improved the prognosis of the disease and reduced mortality from breast cancer.
Routine screening mammography examinations or screening in asymptomatic women allow us to get ahead in time and make earlier diagnoses, before the patient feels the lesion. Mammography has undergone a great change in the last twenty years, becoming an increasingly accurate and evolved test. The most important technological changes are the incorporation of digital mammography, tomosynthesis and contrast mammography.
Breast cancer treatment
– Digital Mammography. It allows to increase the resolution capacity of the image, manipulation and storage of the same. It would be comparable to digital photography.
– Tomosynthesis. It consists of performing at the same time, in addition to the normal mammography, tomographic slices of the breast, as a scanner of very thin slices of 1 mm thick that avoids the overlapping of tissues, such as a 3D mammography that is especially useful in dense breasts.
– Contrast Mammography. This enhancement consists of injecting the patient with an iodinated contrast to subsequently perform the mammography. This contrast will be picked up by the breast tumors and will be represented in the image as a light bulb lit in a dark room. It allows an increase in the sensitivity and specificity of the test. In certain cases it can replace MRI. We can say that the mammography of today, of the 21st century, is an effective, modern and very complete technique with functionalities such as ‘Tomosynthesis’ and ‘Contrast’. Performed periodically, it allows early detection of breast cancer and helps to cure it in most cases.