Similar to the virtual colonoscopy for men, mammograms are the most effective tool for the screening and diagnosis of cancer during the early stages. Since the likelihood of being diagnosed with nearly all forms of cancer increases with age, it is particularly pertinent for the elderly to be aware of the procedure and its implications. Though a debate still exists regarding the impact of a mammography on mortality from breast cancer, most physicians advise their patients aged fifty and older to have the procedure done at least every two years. Most patients would benefit from the security of an annual mammogram, comfortable that any changes in the breast tissue would be identified before proliferating to a potentially lethal extent. There are a number of diagnoses and prognoses given as the result of a mammogram, many of which result in treatment that is most effective when implemented on cancer at its earliest stages.
For the elderly, frequent screenings may catch the cancer at a stage which affords the patient a less invasive treatment than those aimed at later stages of breast cancer. Elderly bodies are naturally more frail than their younger counterparts, and high-risk procedures may pose as much of a threat to the elderly patient’s mortality as the cancer itself.
Much of the debate around mammography stems from the rates of false positives and missed cases. When weighed against the long-term risks of breast cancer, however, most patients would still prefer a shot at early detection. Breast cancer generally manifests itself as a mass or lump identifiable to the touch and visible on an x-ray image. The identification of a mass in the breast does not necessarily indicate breast cancer, as many growths are innocently benign. For those who show markers for breast cancer in a mammogram, a follow up diagnostic screening will be performed. A small percentage of patients who undergo a diagnostics session will then be subject to a biopsy for definitive results and potential prognosis. Diagnostic sessions and further testing increase the chances of detection but still leave room for imperfection.
There is a form of breast cancer, lobular cancer, which is indecipherable on a mammogram from regular breast tissue, and masses are sometimes hidden by dense, natural tissue of the breast. Elderly patients who are confined to assisted living facilities or show tendencies to osteoporosis and poor coordination might be at an increased risk of injury simply by making their way to a mammography or screening. For those patients, the advice of a physician with whom they share a healthy patient-doctor relationship is paramount and should be the determining factor in the frequency of a patient’s mammograms.
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