Early Detection is Still Best for Breast Cancer

Early Detection is Still Best for Breast Cancer

A Professor of Radiology and Surgery, now resident in New Zealand, is encouraging women to carry out monthly breast examinations and to contact their GP immediately if they detect any changes.

Dr Patrizio Capasso applauds the hundreds of Pink Ribbon Breakfasts that are being held around New Zealand this month to highlight breast cancer research.

Dr Capasso, formerly Vice-Chair of the Department of Radiology at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, strongly recommends early detection which improves patient survival. He says men are not immune from breast cancer and recommends they should contact their GP if they feel something abnormal.

Now Clinical Director of Broadway Radiology in Palmerston North, Dr Capasso points out that about 40 percent of New Zealand women have a condition known as dense breasts.

Dense breasts have more glandular tissue, are less sensitive to mammography detection but are also at increased risk of developing breast cancer he says. “This risk could be at least as significant as having a strong family history of breast cancer,” Dr Capasso comments.

He welcomes the latest medical technology for imaging breasts. The equipment called 3D Mammography has been installed in a number of New Zealand hospitals or radiology centres including Broadway Radiology in Palmerston North.

The state of the art equipment enables radiologists to more easily detect breast cancer. With 3D Mammography or Tomosynthesis, the x-ray tub moves in an arc capturing multiple images of each breast from different angles.

Those images are reconstructed as “slices” much like a CT scan.

“While traditional mammography, where two images are taken of each breast, remains the best screening tool for breast cancer today, it doesn’t detect all breast cancers,” he says. “Breast Tomosynthesis overcomes some of the limitations by minimising tissue overlap that can hide cancers or make them difficult to distinguish from normal breast tissue.”

He says Breast Tomosynthesis is good news for women, especially for those with dense breasts. It demonstrates significantly better cancer detection rates with a decrease in unnecessary biopsies.

It also provides increased comfort during the examination.

Many women may be unaware they have dense breasts and, as part of Broadway Radiology’s service, Dr Patrizio Capasso and his team will inform their GP and recommend the patient discusses with their doctor when they should have Tomosynthesis on an annual basis.

“Even if you qualify for a free two yearly breast screening, you may wish to consider Tomosynthesis on alternative years,” he says.

The 3D Mammography was introduced late last year and the patient response has been excellent. During the time the machine has been in use, Dr Capasso recalls several cases where abnormalities were discovered that would otherwise have been hidden.

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