MISSOULA - October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Advanced Imaging in Missoula wants to make sure cancer is prevented or caught as early as possible.
"In a woman's lifetime, there is a 1 in 8 chance of getting breast cancer, about a 12% lifetime chance of breast cancer, and that's regardless of family history," Community Medical Center/Advanced Imaging radiologist Matthew Curtis told MTN.
While a mammogram is the standard for detecting breast cancer, dense breast tissue can obscure how abnormalities show up. Both the tissue and cancer show up white on mammograms.
"Mammogram is a relatively quick, straightforward, and cheap method to screen a large population of women, but some women have higher dense tissue, and what that means is mammogram isn't as sensitive for those women," Dr. Curtis explained.
Supplemental screenings like MRIs or ultrasounds can show cancer clearer and potentially save lives.
"At the end of the day, our goal is to find cancer and find it early. The best thing you can do is you can call us ahead of time. We can tell you what the exact CPT code would be of that study. We can have it run by the insurance and figure out exactly what it might cost you," Dr. Curtis said.
To learn more, click here for Advanced Imaging's breast cancer awareness hub.
