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(KSL News) -- October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, a reminder that women over 50 should have mammogram. But younger women who have a family history of cancer should be screened much earlier.
Because younger women's breast tissue is more dense, it can be difficult to see problem areas in a conventional film mammogram. So the Huntsman Cancer Institute uses a digital mammography machine. The machine has proven to give greater diagnostic accuracy in women whose breast tissue is more dense.
Karen Y. Oh, M.D., Radiology, Huntsman Cancer Institute: "The tissue contrast is improved over film screen, so in dense breasts we can see through the tissue a little better which helps us see early cancers and classifications earlier than we would have possible on the film screen. "
The electronic picture of the breast can be and stored in the computer, which makes it quicker, and allows the recorded data to be magnified, enhanced or manipulated for closer evaluation.
The Huntsman Cancer Institute has more than 800 women enrolled in its High Risk Breast Cancer Clinic.
