There's A New Tool To Screen For Breast Cancer In Women At Higher Risk At Holy Redeemer Health System
By Lynne Adkins
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- There's a new tool in the battle against breast cancer that will help women at high risk because they have dense breast tissue.
Mammograms can miss cancer in women with dense breast tissue. A machine called A-bus - the Automated Breast Ultrasound System - is being used at Holy Redeemer Health System.
Dr. Beth DuPree, Chairman of the Department of Surgery says it's a way to see potential problems in women who are at higher risk for cancer.
"With a mammography there's radiation exposure because it's an x-ray," DuPree says. "The whole breast ultrasound actually uses sound waves, these are sound waves that are transmitted through the breast tissue and come back on the screen to be able to recreate a three-dimensional reconstruction of the breast."
She says the technology does not replace mammography, and women in this category should ask their doctors about A-bus.
"My job is to educate the primary care doctors and the OB/GYNs that are ordering mammograms about which patients should be getting this technology," she says, "but as a woman it's your report, they're your breasts, you're responsible for them -- so take accountability and ask the questions."
