What is a "mammogram" and why is it important?

What is a "mammogram" and why is it important?

Richard E. Gould (Hematologist/Oncologist, Cedars-Sinai Outpatient Cancer Center) gives expert video advice on: How often should I have a mammogram?; Is a mammogram painful?; Is the radiation exposure from getting a mammogram harmful? and more...

A mammogram is an imaging test that looks at the breast tissue under an X-ray to determine if there are any abnormalities concerning for cancer. What we're looking for on a mammogram is any mass, anything that has abnormal calcifications around it, anything that is distorting the normal appearing breast tissue. Women should have a mammogram yearly starting at the age of 50 according to some guidelines and 40 according to other guidelines. The studies have definitely shown an improvement in overall survival for women who develop breast cancer when they get mammograms starting yearly at the age of 50. The studies looking at women at the age of 40 have not definitively shown this, but there's enough circumstantial evidence that a large number of the consensus groups recommend starting mammograms yearly at the age of 40. In general, getting a mammogram is not painful but is not comfortable because the breast tissue needs to be compressed between the X-ray plates so that there is as much resolution of the breast tissue as possible.