At Cheyenne Women’s Imaging Pavilion, many of the women we see are confused about what they’re supposed to do about breast cancer. They want to be responsible and proactive about their health, but they’re having trouble sifting through all the information to find what’s right. They find information that’s contradictory or outdated or untrustworthy, so they don’t feel confident in making a decision about when to start and how often to schedule mammography screenings.

According to the American College of Radiology, the nearly 100-year-old professional medical society for radiology in the U.S.:

“Mammography screening is not perfect. It does not find all cancers and does not find all cancers early enough to cure, but when used by women beginning at the age of 40, it has been shown to markedly reduce the number who die from breast cancer and allows therapy to be more successful.”

We strongly believe in empowering our patients to make the decision that’s right for them, so we’d like to share the facts about mammography. These facts were sourced from the ACR’s excellent site Mammography Saves Lives, a wonderful resource for women looking to educate themselves about mammography.

40%

Mammography has helped reduce breast cancer mortality in the U.S. by nearly 40% since 1990.

1 in 6

1 in 6 breast cancers occur in women aged 40–49.

3/4

3/4 of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease and are not considered high risk.

30%

Even for women over 50, skipping a mammogram every other year would miss up to 30% of cancers.

We hope this information helps you and we encourage all women to learn all they can about breast cancer and mammography. If you have questions about what the right decision is for you, please speak with your physician and ask for a referral to the Cheyenne Women’s Imaging Pavilion and schedule an appointment for your next screening.