Your chances of a cure for breast cancer, if picked up by a mammogram, are at least one-third better than a woman who didn't have one. A mammogram is an X-ray of the breast enabling the radiologist to notice anything unusual or suspicious within the breast tissue. The great majority of abnormalities seen on mammograms, such as cysts, lymph glands and fibrous tumors, are not cancerous. Most of these lesions can be sorted out without the need for biopsy. Mammograms can pick up very small lesions, about five millimeters, compared to lumps which can be felt, and are usually a centimeter or more.
Some precancerous lesions are even smaller, when seen by mammograms.
If a cancer is one centimeter or less and has not spread to the lymph nodes, a woman has more than a 90 percent chance of cure. Over two-thirds or these small lesions are only visible by mammography. Mammography has its limits, however. Ten percent of cancers cannot be detected because they are hidden by surrounding dense breast tissue, a problem which is more frequent in premenopausal women. For this reason, clinical breast examination by a person with experience and interest in breast disease is crucial.