The Impact of Technology on Breast Cancer

A couple of recent news articles reminded me of just how much of a difference technology has made in the world of breast cancer treatment.

The first described the advances in screening made possible by digital mammography, which renders clearer, crisper images of women’s breasts than the standard mammography films. This is especially important for younger women, whose breast tissue is denser, making tumors harder to detect. I know this story all too well. Four months prior to finding my lump while taking a shower, my mammogram showed nothing at all. Remarkably, even after my doctor felt the lump and that part of my breast was magnified, there was still nothing to be seen on the mammogram. As my doctor said, the dark tumor against the dark image of my breast tissue just did not reveal the cancerous lump that was growing there.

The second article describes how the use of MRI before surgery leads to changes in treatment for more than 25% of breast cancer patients. These changes included finding additional sites of cancer that could be removed and/or treated.

Both articles describe how the use of this technology can lead to the false positives that can cause women undue anxiety and/or to make surgical decisions that further tests do not warrant. Potentially abnormal results from MRIs cause some women to opt for a bilateral mastectomy when further biopsy did not reveal any cancerous cells present.

Digital films are much better at detecting the calcifications that sometimes become cancerous – so that the doctors can then carefully monitor them – which creates a lot of stress for women. I can empathize with this, too. I have calcifications in the breast in which my cancer was found. Calcium was also found in my tumor, so my calcifications are watched very closely. When my mammography transitioned from the standard films to digital films, I had a very anxious 6 month period during which time my calcifications were monitored for changes. They looked so different in the new digital format that the radiologists just wanted to be sure nothing was amiss. (I am happy to report, nothing was amiss.)

Technology has a double edge in all parts of our life – hey, who doesn’t have love/hate relationships with email, the mobile phone and computers in general? But, all in all, technology has improved all aspects of our lives, including our medical treatment. Technology will advance both treatments and early detection which will lead to better quality of life and improved life expectancy for all cancer patients. It’s hard not to like that.

What has been your experience with new testing and digital mammography?