The National Breast Cancer Awareness Month celebrated 25 years of awareness, education and empowerment. October celebrated the dedication of those who support the efforts of spreading education and fighting this deadly disease. Even though we are now in the month of November, the celebration must continue.
We’ve been informed by the American Cancer Society that we should get a mammogram once a year starting at age 40, but Dr. Kelly shared that 50% of the years of potential life lost to breast cancer under the age of 75 are lost in the 37 to 49 years old group compared with the 50 to 74 year old group. He recommends testing with ultrasound for breast cancer beginning at the age 37 (something to consider). Also, he suggests starting 10 years earlier with breast ultrasound than the age at discovery for every woman whose mother or sister had or has breast cancer.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Kevin M. Kelly, a practicing radiologist for over 30 years and the Director of Breast Imaging at Hall Health & Longevity Center in Venice, CA. Dr. Kelly is a recognized expert on breast ultrasound and has written articles and lectured internationally on the use of ultrasound in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Dr. Kelly created a procedure to detect smaller cancers that may not be found by mammography alone.It’s known as SonoCine, an investigational ultrasound device that captures 2,000 to 5,000 images of breast tissue and links them together in a “moving loop.” It’s a spectacular device Dr. Kelly utilizes with his patients. He says, "We detect everything in motion and with a high resolution screen. It then concentrates the images in .128 gradation from pure black to white.” The test takes 30 minutes but can save the lives of many women and especially those with dense breasts.*
According to Dr. Kelly, there are 110+ women a day that die of breast cancer. That’s equivalent to 40,335 women a year. The National Cancer Institute tells us that,”15% ?12%?of women born today will be diagnosed with cancer of the breast at some time during their lifetime. This number can also be expressed as 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with cancer of the breast during their lifetime.” Detection is a BIG deal. Dr. Kelly often asks himself, ‘How do I help these women.’ He explains,” If you don’t scan a woman who has a small undetected breast cancer and it’s discovered physically laterat an inch in diameter (2.5cm), there is a 40% chance she’ll die. If you detect the cancer less than a centimeter in diameter there’s a 4% she’ll die.” Luckily the statistics turn in favor of the affected with early detection. In fact, automated whole breast ultrasound out performed a routine mammogram especially when detecting smaller sized cancers.
If you happen to have implants that’s ok too! The implants are much denser than breast tissue. They will require 4 views. Dr. Kelly states, “Ultrasound starts at the skin and above the implant. They always put the implant behind the breast and ultrasound is perfect for this purpose. You don’t care about what’s behind the implant. It is the same with lactation, it doesn’t make any difference there is no interference, the cancers can still be seen. You don’t have to worry about radiation because sound waves are used instead. There is no danger whatsoever.”
You have choices when it comes to your health, Dr. Kelly with the help of SonoCine provides answers! Even if you get a yearly mammogram get ultrasound too if you have dense breast tissue!
For more information visit http://www.hallcentervenice.com/
*Dense Breasts: Breasts are made out of gland tissue and fat. Some women have mostly glandule tissue and some have more fatty tissue. Glandule tissue is denser than fatty tissue. This makes a difference when getting a mammogram and why SonoCine is able to detect more small cancers in denser breast.
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