Did you know that, with the exception of skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women? Did you know that 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime? In 2019, an estimated 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S., along with 62,930 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer. More than 41,000 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2019 from breast cancer.

Early detection saves lives. Since 1990, there has been a 30% decrease in breast cancer mortality rates in the U.S., which is due in large part to the early detection of breast cancer through screening mammography.

The Society of Breast Imaging and American College of Radiology recommends the following guidelines for women to begin having annual screening mammograms:

Women at average risk for breast cancer

Annual mammogram from age 40

Women at increased risk for breast cancer

• Women with certain BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations or who are untested but have first-degree relatives (mothers, sisters, or daughters) who are proved to have BRCA mutations: Yearly starting by age 30 (but not before age 25)
  
  
• Women with ≥20% lifetime risk for breast cancer on the basis of family history (both maternal and paternal): Yearly starting by age 30 (but not before age 25), or 10 years earlier than the age of diagnosis of the youngest affected relative, whichever is later
  
  
• Women with mothers or sisters with pre-menopausal breast cancer: Yearly starting by age 30 (but not before age 25), or 10 years earlier than the age of diagnosis of the youngest affected relative, whichever is later
  
  
• Women with histories of mantle radiation (usually for Hodgkin's disease) received between the ages of 10 and 30: Yearly starting 8 years after the radiation therapy, but not before age 25
  
  
• Women with biopsy-proven lobular neoplasia (lobular carcinoma in situ and atypical lobular hyperplasia), atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), invasive breast cancer or ovarian cancer: Yearly from time of diagnosis, regardless of age

Suburban Imaging offers both 2-D and Tomo (3-D) mammography at three clinic location (Suburban Imaging – Blaine, Suburban Imaging – Burnsville and The Breast Center of Suburban Imaging, which is located in Coon Rapids). Screening mammography does not require an order from a referring physician. To learn more about screening mammography and to find scheduling information, please visit our website here.