NoTouch BreastScan is recommended for anyone who may benefit from complementary or adjunctive breast screening. It should also be considered for women whose traditional breast cancer-screening regimen (mammogram or clinical breast exam) did not provide a clear answer.
This is often the case for women:
- With dense breast
- Younger than age 40
- With family history of breast cancer
- Concerned about inflammatory breast cancer
- Women deterred from routine mammograms
Women with Dense Breast Tissue
Dense breast tissue is known to be one of the leading risk factors for breast cancer in women [1]. Women with dense breasts are at a significantly higher risk when compared to other women of the same age and health [2].
Did you know that?
- 40% of all women have dense breasts
- 95% of women who have dense breasts don't know about it
- Mammograms alone can miss 40-60% of breast cancers in women with dense breasts
A woman is considered to have 'dense breasts' when there is presence of more glandular tissue than fat in her breasts. It is an age related condition, as younger women's breasts are normally dense. Breast density typically reduces with age, but this is not the case with all women.
Dense Breast vs. Fatty Breasts
The 'level' of breast density is revealed only after a mammogram. The denser the breasts, the harder it is for the x-rays from the mammography machine to penetrate through. Anything that does not allow x-rays to pass through appears white, including both dense breast tissue and breast cancer tissue. Due to the inability for x-rays to pass through dense breast issue, the accuracy of mammograms in women with dense breasts is lower than in women with fatty breasts.
Due to the reasons above, certain states, including: Connecticut, Texas, Virginia, and recently New York, have passed legislation into law that requires the doctors of women with dense breasts to inform them about the fact that they have dense breasts and discuss additional screening options. Similar legislation is now being considered in more than 13 states and a federal bill (H.R. 3102) sponsored by Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut is now introduced and referred to the committee.
In Nov 2009, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPTF) put forth new guidelines for breast screening advising against mammographic screening in women younger than age 50, partially due to the lack of benefit that mammography provides for this age group.
Solution: NoTouch BreastScan's FDA cleared, digital infrared imaging technology is unbiased towards dense breasts. It is equally effective in women young and old, with dense or fatty breasts.
Women Younger Than Age 40
While 1 in 229 women under age 40 are at risk for developing breast cancer [3], screening typically does not begin until that age for most women. This is due to both the high prevalence of dense breast tissue in this age group and the concern of radiation over-exposure at an early age.
10% of all breast cancers are diagnosed in women under the age of 45. This means that every year 20,000 women under the age of 45 are diagnosed with breast cancer before undergoing any effective breast cancer screening. To date, there are no effective breast-cancer screening tools for women 40 years of age or younger [4].
Compared to women 50+, younger women face:
- More aggressive cancers and lower survival rates [5]
- Higher rate of triple negative breast cancers
- Higher grade tumors
- Larger tumor sizes
- Higher incidence of lymph node involvement
Women With Family History Of Breast Cancer
About 5% to 10% of breast cancers are thought to be hereditary, caused by abnormal genes passed from parent to child. Having family history of breast cancer (mother, sister, daughter) increases the risk for breast cancer [6]. The mutation of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes has been linked to the development of hereditary breast cancer and increases the risk for breast cancer five times [7].
Solution: Women in this group may benefit from screening at frequent intervals as opposed to the routine regimen of 'once a year'. NoTouch BreastScan does not use any ionizing radiation and may provide a safe solution for women at increased risk for breast cancer fivefold.
Women Concerned About Rare Conditions Such As Inflammatory Breast Cancer
Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare and very aggressive disease in which cancer cells block lymph vessels in the skin of the breast. This type of breast cancer is called "inflammatory" because the breast often looks swollen and red, or 'inflamed'. 5% of all breast cancers (or 10,000 women a year) are diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer.
This type of cancer is almost impossible to detect with mammogram since most of the cases do not develop a tumor. Due to late stage detection, the survival rate is very poor.
Solution: Physiologically, inflammatory breast cancer creates a significant increase in the vascularity of the breasts and a highly visible thermal asymmetry, making it easier to 'visualize' on NoTouch BreastScan.
Women Deterred From Routine Exam
According to a recent study (April 2012), every year a small percentage of women (800,000 women) do not return for their annual mammogram exam due to pain or discomfort [8]. In a study performed in 2000, 73% of women described mammography as mild to severely painful. Women with smaller than average breast size and obese women complain on average more about pain and discomfort during the exam.
Certain ethnicities and communities are more averse to annual breast exams due to reasons related to cultural modesty. Since the November 2009 recommendation of the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPTF), there has been a 6% fall in mammograms in women between age 40 and 49.
Solution: NoTouch BreastScan is an entirely pain-free and radiation-free breast exam that is safe and comfortable for women of all ages.
Return to Top
1. BreastCancer.org and AreYouDense.org
2. Science Daily July 2011, Breast Density Tied to Specific Types of Breast Cancer, Study Suggests
3. American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Facts & Figures, 2005-2006
4. Young Survival Coalition Website.
5. American College of Surgeons 2009, Elevated Breast Cancer Mortality in Women Younger than Age 40 Years Compared with Older Women Is Attributed to Poorer Survival in Early-Stage Disease.
6. WebMD Nov 2008, Family History Raises Breast Cancer Risk
7. National Cancer Institute, BRCA1 and BRCA2: Cancer Risk and Genetic Testing
8. 2012 Poster at the European Congress of Radiology (ECR)
