The American Cancer Society recently released new breast cancer screening guidelines. The new guidelines represent the best ideas in breast cancer screenings based on the most recent knowledge.

The guidelines are aimed at women with an average risk for cancer and who don’t have any symptoms. The 2008 guidelines include:

• Women 40 years of age and older should have an annual mammogram and should continue to do so for as long as they are in good health.
• Women in their 20s and 30s should include a breast examination every three years by a health professional as part of their health care.
• Breast self-exams are optional for women. Ask your physician about the benefits of regular self-exams and together decide if this should be part of your personal health care. Women should know how their breasts normally feel and immediately report any change to their health care provider.
• Women with a lifetime risk of 20 percent or higher for breast cancer should get an MRI and mammogram every year. Women at moderate risk (15 to 19 percent) should ask their health care provider about the pros and cons of adding an annual MRI. There is no evidence that MRI is an effective screening tool for women of average risk.
• For women at high risk, MRI screening should begin at age 30. An MRI should be used in addition to a mammogram, not in place of.

To establish your level of risk, visit www.cancer.gov/bcrisktool .

What is a mammogram?
A mammogram is an image of the breast. It is used as a diagnostic tool to detect possible breast cancer. Mammograms, introduced in 1969, used X-ray technology. Today, digital mammograms are accepted practice. A National Cancer Institute-funded study found that digital mammography had a 40 percent improvement rate of detecting abnormalities in dense breast tissue.

What is an MRI?
An MRI is an imaging tool that uses magnets and radio waves to give a detailed, cross-section image of the breast. A contrast material is injected into a vein in the arm prior to the test, improving the view of breast tissue details during the MRI.

A change in thinking
For years, women have been encouraged to make breast self-exams part of their regular health routine. Regular breast self-exams are still a good idea but are no longer part of the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) early detection guidelines. The decision is now left to the woman and her physician to decide what role self-exams should play.

“The American Cancer Society changed its guidelines based on two recent studies,” says Jean Arndt, APRN, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. “The studies looked at 388,535 women in Russia and China, with one group doing breast self-exams and the other not. The study found there was no significant difference in breast cancer deaths between the two groups.”

Just because breast self-exams are no longer part of the ACS guidelines doesn’t mean women should disregard the benefits of knowing how their breasts normally feel and look so they can recognize when something has changed. Women should notify their physician immediately for evaluation. Often, these changes do not reflect the presence of cancer.

For an appointment with the UI Breast Health Clinic, call 319-356-4200 or 800-777-8442 or visit www.uihealthcare.com/breasthealth.

For more information, call the Cancer Information Service at 800-237-1225 or visit www.uihealthcare.com/cis.