The FDA reports that mammography can find 85 to 90 percent of breast cancers in women over 50 and can discover a lump up to two years before it can be felt. Although breast x-rays have been performed since the 1920s, modern mammography has only existed since about 1970. To put mammography dose into perspective, a woman who receives radiation therapy as a treatment for breast cancer will receive several thousands rads. The MQSA guidelines assure that mammography systems are safe and use the lowest dose of radiation possible. Patients should make sure they are being imaged at an ACR accredited facility using modern mammography systems.
Many women are concerned about the exposure to x-rays during mammography.
However, the level of radiation used by modern mammography systems does not significantly increase the risk for breast cancer. Scientific data has shown that doses 100-1000 times greater those used for mammography are required to show any statistical increase in breast cancer frequency. There is no significant risk of radiation damage to breast tissue from mammography and the potential risk is greatly outweighed by the benefit of getting regular mammograms. The quality of a mammogram is greatly dependent on compression of the breast, which may sometimes cause discomfort. However, the discomfort should be brief.