There is no way as yet to stop women getting a breast cancer, but women who have a yearly mammogram have an overall 87% cure rate. If the 2 most aggressive cancers (which are less common) are excluded, the rate increases to 95%. However, in women that do not undergo annual screening and discover a breast cancer, the lifetime cure rate falls to 50%.

At Breastnet, we started digital mammography in January of 2007 and this is our experience so far:

• The majority of our patients are telling us the compression process is significantly more comfortable!
• We are seeing microcalcifications more clearly (which translates to earlier) and as a result, we have found more early pre-invasive cancers, which are curable 99% of the time.
• In denser breast tissue, we can see lumps more easily.
• We do not have to perform as many additional views to separate normal overlapping tissue from possible breast lumps.
• The procedure is quicker for the patient and the films are available for review immediately.
• Lost films are now eliminated with digital storage (we offer daily sacrifices to the IT god!!)
• The computerized second read on digital images is significantly superior to second read on non digital mammograms.

The most important take home message, though, is have an annual mammogram. The statistics I quote at the beginning of this Email are as a result of 30 years of annual screening of millions of women in the "pre-digital" era. For those of your friends who do not have access to digital mammograms, they should still have a mammogram. The worst thing to do is not have a mammogram because digital is not yet available in their area.

Thank you for your time and support!

Best regards,
Belinda Barclay-White, MD