Mammography is the primary screening tool utilized for the early detection of breast cancer, which uses a minimal amount of low-dose radiation to provide an X-ray image of the breast.

Mammography can detect small lumps before they can be felt by a woman or even her healthcare provider, and is not harmful to women when conducted over annual intervals and in accordance with the National Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis Guidelines.

Mammography is currently the only imaging modality that has been shown to reduce breast cancer mortality. Although a mammogram can not prevent breast cancer, it is the most successful widely-available screening tool that can detect breast cancer at its earliest stages, during which the disease is most curable and survival rates can reach up to 95%.

According to Jordan’s national guidelines, women at normal risk ages 40-50 years should have a regular mammogram every two years and women ages 50 years and older are advised to have yearly mammograms.

If you are a woman at increased risk, talk to your doctor about your many options. Your doctor may suggest that you start getting annual mammograms earlier, and that you have more frequent Clinical Breast Exams (CBEs). Make sure that your doctor follows the National Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis Guidelines for Jordan.

A mammogram exam should take approximately 15 minutes. Before the exam, you will need to undress from the waist up. Remember that you should avoid wearing deodorant, powder, lotion, or other products under your arms or on your breasts on the day of your mammogram.

During the exam, each of your breasts will be pressed between two plastic plates in at least two positions. This flattens the breast tissue so that the image produced will be clear.

In general, mammograms are not painful yet they might cause slight discomfort for a very brief period of time.

Sensitive patients are advised to schedule their mammograms a week after their menstrual cycle, when the breasts are least likely to be tender.

There are two types of mammograms available world-wide:

1. Analog (standard) mammography
2. Digital mammography

Analog mammography is the traditional and more widely-available form of breast imaging, which uses film to produce fixed images of the breast.

In recent years, digital mammography has started to be used as an alternative to analog mammography.

Digital mammography uses essentially the same breast imaging system as analog mammography, but is equipped with a digital receptor and a computer instead of a film cassette, which enables radiologists to manipulate the images and view them in different ways on a computer screen.

Generally speaking, analog and digital mammography are quite similar in their ability to detect breast cancer. A single study suggests the benefit of digital mammography in young women and women with dense breasts.

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