UPMC Altoona offers mammogram screening

In observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, UPMC Altoona will hold walk-in mammogram screening events at three locations in October.

The American College of Radiology recommends that beginning at age 40, women with an average risk of breast cancer be screened annually — although women with higher risk due to family history, genetic mutations or other factors may need to start screenings earlier, said Dr. Lauren Deur, a diagnostic radiologist with UPMC.

Screenings that don't require appointments will be held for women who don't have current appointments at:

– 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Tuesday in October at Station Medical Center;

– 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, at the UPMC Outpatient Center in Ebensburg;

– 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, at UPMC Bedford.

Screening for breast cancer can detect a lump as small as 3 millimeters, Deur said, adding that individuals generally can't feel a lump until it reaches 1 centimeter — more than three times bigger.

Sometimes they can't feel a lump until it's considerably bigger than a centimeter, she said.

Screening can also detect calcification in the breast before the individual can do it on their own, she said.

Calcification can lead to intraductal carcinoma.

Early detection provides a better chance of successful treatment, if what is found turns out to be cancer, she said.

About 10% of people who get mammogram screenings are called back for further imaging and perhaps ultrasound, Deur said.

About 10% of those called back for additional imaging need a biopsy, she said.

And 25% to 40% of those who get a biopsy get a diagnosis of cancer, she said.

That translates to from three to seven screened individuals out of each thousand who are screened ending up with a diagnosis of cancer, she said.

The incidence of breast cancer at some point during life in the overall global population is higher than that — 1 in 8, she said.

The combined five-year survival rate for breast cancer after five years is 91%, according to the American Cancer Society.

Women who are screened regularly have a 26% lower breast cancer death rate than women who aren't screened, according to nationalbreastcancer.org.

Even women with no family history of breast cancer should get screened if they've reached the age of 40, according to Deur.

Eighty-five percent of those who end up with breast cancer don't have a family history of breast cancer, she said.

Women shouldn't let worries about screening being unpleasant stop them, according to Deur.

"It doesn't hurt," she said. "It's a little uncomfortable, but it's over before you know it."

An appointment takes about 20 minutes, she said.

Each exposure takes about 20 seconds, and an average appointment involves four exposures, she said.

"You're not in compression very long," she said.

Representatives will be present at the screenings to help people who don't have insurance.

"Assistance will be provided," said hospital spokeswoman Bailey Schandelmeier.

There is no official upper limit on the age at which women should stop getting annual screenings, according to Deur. It might make sense to discontinue screenings if the woman wouldn't seek treatment for a cancer finding anyway, or if she is dealing with an overwhelming medical problem, Deur said.

Since about 1990, breast cancer mortality is down, and mammogram screening has contributed to that, Deur said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.