Early Detection Is the Goal

Breakthroughs in Early Detection

Until a cure is found, finding cancer early is imperative. A surgical biopsy is the traditional way to take tissue samples to be checked for cancer, but more often SCCA doctors are turning to less-invasive methods, such as stereotactic biopsies. Other experimental methods, such as ductal lavage, allow even earlier detection of cancer in the breast.

Stereotactic biopsy

Computer-aided stereotactic biopsy equipment pinpoints calcifications for radiologists, who use a special needle to take small core samples from suspected malignant tumors.

MRI imaging techniques

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) uses a powerful magnetic field to create detailed computer images of the major organs and soft tissues of the body. MRI-guided biopsies provide the most definition for breast lesions.

MRI can be used in women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer to stage their disease. It can also be used to catch breast cancer earlier in women who are at high risk for breast cancer.

Nuclear medicine imaging techniques

In nuclear medicine, radioactive isotopes are used in tracer studies both to diagnose breast cancer and to determine the effectiveness of breast cancer treatments. These techniques provide information that other types of imaging studies or even biopsies may not.

Three nuclear medicine techniques have an increasing role with breast cancer patients. These are lymphoscintigraphy, PET (positron emission tomography), and MIBI imaging.

Ductal lavage

Ductal lavage is a experimental procedure used to detect cancer earlier, especially with women who have a strong family history or who have shown a strong cancer risk based on genetic test results. Dr. Susan Love, internationally renowned breast surgeon, pioneered this procedure. And researchers at the University of Washington Medical Center are working in collaboration with her company to study this technique, in which fluid is flushed through the nipple in order to obtain cell samples from the milk ducts, where breast cancer can begin.