Breast Imaging Program

The SCCA's Dr. Connie Lehman, director of breast imaging, led research that showed MRIs find more cancers than mammography and clinical exam in the other, or contralateral, breast of women newly diagnosed with the disease in one breast. She also co-authored new American Cancer Society guidelines for when women at high risk for breast cancer should have an annual MRI scan in addition to an annual mammogram. Click here for more information.

Digital mammograms
At SCCA, we have the largest all-digital facility in Western Washington and the only all-digital facility in Seattle. Digital mammograms capture X-ray images digitally, allowing images to be seen right away and manipulated for more accurate diagnosis. 

Click here for a KOMO TV interview with Dr. Constance Lehman, Director of Breast Imaging at SCCA (pictured right). 

Immediate results when you need them the most
Even though most breast lumps are benign, when a woman discovers a suspicious lump or other concern, it can be a stressful experience. At the Women’s Center Breast Imaging Program, we understand this. Our breast imaging specialists provide interpretations and results from mammograms and other imaging studies immediately after each test. If additional imaging studies are needed, they are done that day as well.

Routine screening mammograms
All women 40 and over may have routine screening mammograms at the Women's Center. Regardless of age, women who are at high risk for breast cancer, have previously been diagnosed with breast cancer, have abnormalities or suspicious lumps, or have or have had a gynecologic cancer are welcome to have routine screening mammograms at the Women's Center as well.

Early diagnosis gives the best possible chance for a cure from most cancers. Ideally this means that the cancer will be found before a breast lump is felt. The best way to find breast cancer early is with regular mammograms, read by a doctor who specializes in reading images of the breast.

Privacy, comfort, immediate results
At the SCCA Women’s Center, our imaging equipment is fully digital -- the most advanced technology available. “This technology is better at finding breast cancers, gives fewer false positive results, and is more comfortable for the patient,” says Dr. Constance Lehman, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Breast Imaging at SCCA.

There are three digital mammography rooms at the Women's Center, each with its own changing room. But the best part is that after your mammogram, you will get the results immediately and in private.

If further studies are needed, the Women’s Center offers emotional support, same-day biopsies, and a team of experts standing by to assist in every way possible. 

The digital difference
The SCCA Women’s Center is the only place of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. The Breast Imaging program here is the largest all-digital facility in western Washington and the only all-digital facility in Seattle, where every mammogram is interpreted by a breast imaging specialist.

Recent studies have shown that digital mammography detects up to 28 percent more cancers than film mammography in women 50 years of age and younger, pre- and perimenopausal women, and in women with dense breast tissue. A 28 percent increase in accuracy means earlier detection, and most importantly, a better chance of a cure.

Additional studies
If you have a breast lump or other suspicious symptom, the first step in diagnostic imaging to help determine if the lump is cancer is a mammogram. If there is an abnormality on your mammogram, you may be asked to have additional mammograms, an ultrasound, or possibly a biopsy of the suspicious area with a stereotactic biopsy.

Diagnostic imaging—ultrasound
Ultrasound can be used to evaluate lumps that are hard to see on a mammogram--to help distinguish between a tumor and a cyst for example--and as part of other procedures such as ultrasound-guided needle biopsy. Ultrasound is not used for routine breast cancer screening because it does not consistently detect certain early signs of cancer that can be seen on a mammogram.

The Women's Center has three ultrasound rooms, each with state-of-the-art imaging equipment. As with our mammography, you will get the results of your ultrasound test immediately.

Stereotactic biopsy
SCCA’s Breast Imaging Program also performs stereotactic biopsies, a less-invasive alternative to a surgical biopsy to collect tissue samples to be checked for cancer. During this procedure, computer-aided equipment pinpoints the suspected tumor and then radiologists take small core samples with a special needle. These samples are evaluated by a pathologist to see if cancer is present.

Our goal
In all that we do at the Women’s Center, our goal is simple: to provide you with the very best imaging services you need, and if necessary, the very best possible chance for early detection and effective treatment. The sooner, the better.

 

November 2006