RP Georgia Breast Imaging Services
Piedmont Columbus Regional John B Amos Cancer Center
RP Georgia provides state-of-the-art, comprehensive breast imaging services at John B Amos Cancer Center.
Our focus is breast care, but our priority is you. To schedule an appointment, please call 706-571-1234
Breast Imaging Services
- Lifetime risk assessment, counseling and breast health education
- Services provided by radiologists fellowship-trained in mammography
- Same-day results for diagnostic mammograms. Same-day scheduling and next-day results are generally available for most procedures
- Certified radiologic technologists trained in breast imaging and practices
- 3D digital breast tomosynthesis, breast ultrasound and MRI for high-risk assessment, surgical staging and response to chemotherapy
- Case reviews by a multidisciplinary team at the John B. Amos Cancer Center
- Advanced DEXA scan for bone density testing, fine needle aspirations, ultrasound-guided, MRI-guided and stereotactic-guided core breast biopsies and pre-op localizations
Early detection is key
Approximately 1 in 8 women will receive the diagnosis of breast cancer.
The ACR recommends annual screening mammograms beginning at age 40.
40% of all the years of life saved by mammography are among women in their 40s.
Annual screening starting at age 40 saves approximately 6,500 more women’s lives each year in the United States than screening every other year starting at age 50.
Source: ACR Mammography Saves Lives
Breast cancer risk factors you cannot change
Simply being a woman is the main risk factor for breast cancer. Men can get breast cancer, too, but this disease is about 100 times more common in women than in men.
As you get older, your risk of breast cancer goes up. Most breast cancers are found in women age 55 and older.
About 5% to 10% of breast cancer cases are thought to be hereditary, meaning that they result directly from gene defects (called mutations) passed on from a parent.
The most common cause of hereditary breast cancer is an inherited mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. In normal cells, these genes help make proteins that repair damaged DNA. Mutated versions of these genes can lead to abnormal cell growth, which can lead to cancer. On average, a woman with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation has about a 7 in 10 chance of getting breast cancer by age 80. They also have a higher risk of developing some other cancers, mainly ovarian cancer.
Genetic testing can be done to look for mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. While testing can be helpful in some cases, not every woman needs to be tested, and the pros and cons need to be considered carefully. Testing costs a lot and might not be covered by some health insurance plans.
It’s important to note that most women (about 8 out of 10) who get breast cancer do not have a family history of the disease. But women who have close blood relatives with breast cancer have a higher risk:
- A first-degree relative (mother, sister, or daughter) with breast cancer almost doubles a woman’s risk. Two first-degree relatives increases her risk about 3-fold.
- Women with a father or brother who have had breast cancer also have a higher risk of breast cancer.
- Overall, less than 15% of women with breast cancer have a family member with this disease.
A woman with cancer in one breast has a higher risk of developing a new cancer in the other breast or in another part of the same breast. (This is different from a recurrence or return of the first cancer.) Although this risk is low overall, it’s even higher for younger women with breast cancer.
Overall, Caucasian women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than African-American women. However in women under age 45, breast cancer is more common in African-American women. African-American women are also more likely to die from breast cancer at any age. Asian, Hispanic, and Native American women have a lower risk of developing and dying from breast cancer.
Breasts are made up of fatty tissue, fibrous tissue, and glandular tissue. Someone is said to have dense breasts (on a mammogram) when they have more glandular and fibrous tissue and less fatty tissue. Women with dense breasts on mammogram have a risk of breast cancer that is about 1.5 to 2 times that of women with average breast density. Unfortunately, dense breast tissue can also make it harder to see cancers on mammograms. A number of factors can affect breast density, such as age, menopausal status, the use of certain drugs (including menopausal hormone therapy), pregnancy, and genetics.
Women who have had more menstrual cycles because they started menstruating early (especially before age 12) or they went through menopause later (after age 55) have a slightly higher risk of breast cancer. The risk increase may be because of their longer lifetime exposure to the hormones estrogen and progesterone.
Women who were treated with radiation therapy to the chest for another cancer (such as Hodgkin disease or non- Hodgkin lymphoma) when they were younger have a significantly higher risk for breast cancer. The risk is highest if you had radiation as a teen or young adult, when your breasts were still developing. Radiation treatment after age 40 does not seem to increase breast cancer risk.
From the 1940s through the early 1970s some pregnant women were given an estrogen-like drug called DES because it was thought to lower their chances of losing the baby (miscarriage). These women have a slightly increased risk of developing breast cancer. Women whose mothers took DES during pregnancy may also have a slightly higher risk.
