In societies that follow the so-called “Western way of life” Breast Cancer is the most common malignancy in women and the second most common cause of death from neoplasms.

Specifically and according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO/WHO), breast cancer accounts for 11.6% of all new cancers and 6.6% of all cancer deaths.

A woman’s chance of developing breast cancer is 0.5% at age 30, 1.5% at age 40, and 3.4% at age 60. The overall incidence regardless of age is 1 in 8 women or 12%.

An important element is that survival from breast cancer, regardless of age, disease stage and treatment, is high. 91% in the first 5 years from diagnosis, 86% in 10 years from diagnosis and 80% in 15 years from diagnosis. The newest diagnostic and therapeutic methods primarily contribute to this.

In addition, with the establishment of annual screening, breast cancer, with early diagnosis, can be transformed from a fatal to a chronic disease.

The modern imaging arsenal for the early diagnosis of breast cancer includes Digital Mammography, Ultrasound, Magnetic Tomography and PET/CT examination.

Digital Mammography

Until today, Digital Mammography is the method of choice and reference for the diagnosis of breast cancer, that is, it is what is called the “Gold Standard” in international scientific terminology. All other imaging methods are complementary.

Digital Mammography, according to data from the US Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium, is highly effective in diagnosing breast cancer.

However, there are two reasons why it is complemented by Ultrasound. One is the reduction of ionizing radiation (X-rays) which it uses and the other and most important reason is the “obstacle” that can be caused by the so-called dense breast.

Human breasts are made up of fibrous tissue, glandular-milk-producing elements and supportive structural fat. Dense breasts are those that show a predominance of fibrous and glandular elements over fat.

40% of women have dense breasts. And because it is precisely from the glandular elements that breast cancer originates, dense breasts are 4 to 6 times more likely to develop cancer. It is known that 71% of breast cancers occur in dense breasts.

On mammography the fibroglandular elements appear white. But cancer also appears white. It is therefore very possible in dense breasts that some cancer is “missed” in the mammogram image because it is “camouflaged” by the dense fibrous and glandular elements. It is reported that in 1/3 of dense breasts the diagnosis of cancer can escape mammography.

Ultrasound scan

Ultrasound comes to help with this important problem because in most of these difficult situations it can highlight the “hidden” tumors. Classic Ultrasound has a major drawback, it is a subjective examination and depends significantly on the skill and experience of the radiologist.

For this reason, the so-called “Automated Breast Ultrasound” ABUS: Automated Breast Ultrasound System has recently been developed. This system is already installed and in full operation in the General Ultrasound Department of HYGEIA.

The aim of this system is to limit to the minimum the intervention of the radiologist during the acquisition of the images and to increase the objectivity of the findings.

How is the ABUS exam done?

With the ABUS system, the examinee is placed in a supine and slightly oblique position with the breast under examination spread out symmetrically. The machine has a specially shaped arm, which carries a frame designed to adapt to the curvature and contour of the breast. Inside the frame is a curved ultrasound head that scans the entire breast from end to end. The procedure usually takes 15 minutes.

The images taken with each scan are transferred to the special unit of a highly sophisticated computer that accompanies the system. The stored data is processed by the computer, enabling the specialist radiologist to process the images in three axes in order to obtain the final objective diagnosis.

The ABUS system when combined with digital mammography, in dense breasts, increases the diagnosis of breast cancer by 37.5%.