From the July 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Circling back to my two patients, it is impossible to know for sure whether the second woman would have benefited from mammography: perhaps she had an extremely aggressive breast cancer. And let’s not forget that mammograms are not perfect, missing 10-15% of all breast cancers; one reason for supplementing mammography with ultrasound and even MR is to close this gap in women at increased risk for breast cancer. But data shows that for most women, mammograms do save lives, and save lives with less aggressive therapy.
We hope that one day soon breast cancer can be prevented or that biologic agents will simply melt away tumors with few side effects. Medicine is progressing at an astonishing pace. But, unfortunately, that day is not today. Today what we have is mammography.
About the author: Dr. Elisa Port is chief of breast surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital and director of the Dubin Breast Center.
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