BIDMC News and Notes
10/26/2009 (2:36:13pm)Tags: breast cancer mammographyComments: (0)
There is a new digital mammography van now in Boston - one of the first such digital mobile vans in the country - thanks to the support of national and local foundations and businesses,
The vans are scheduled at several BIDMC-affiliated health centers including the Bowdoin Street Health Center in Dorchester.
In 2002, the City of Boston launched the Mayor's Cancer Crusade that included the purchase of a mammography van to offer breast screenings at local health centers. Operated by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the program has provided more than 25,000 mammograms to 11,000 women, 60 percent of whom speak a language other than English. Sixty confirmed diagnoses of breast cancer have been made and thousands of women have benefited from breast health education programs.
11/17/2009 (9:57:13am)Tags: breast cancer mammographyComments: (0)
BIDMC oncology social worker Hester Hill offers her observations on U.S. Preventive Service Task Force's new recommendations to woman about mammography and breast self-examinations.
A quick summary:
"This is clearly very different from what we have all been told for years. It is, however, not so different from what doctors have known and what the evidence has demonstrated. Mammograms are not as good a screening test in younger women as they are for post-menopausal women. The reason for this is the difference in breast tissue; dense tissue makes it more difficult to read the scans."
