Women can now spot cancer sooner thanks to new technology

Jonesboro, Arkansas – Every October, millions of women march to raise awareness of breast cancer.
One in eight women may receive a breast cancer diagnosis at some point in their lives, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

The disease claims the lives of more than 40,000 women annually.

According to doctors, survival depends on early detection.

However, even in Northeast Arkansas, those figures are shifting due to new therapies and technologies.

One woman’s struggle and her tale were transformed by that technology, which wasn’t available fifteen years ago.

Christy Long, a healthcare worker at St. Bernards, stated, “I was at work when I was first diagnosed, and it was definitely the shock of a lifetime.”

Invasive ductal carcinoma was the diagnosis made for her. To aid in early diagnosis, a new instrument detected her cancer.

According to St. Bernards breast radiologist Sharp Malak, M.D., “it’s a supplement to the mammogram.” “We’re using a device called Automated Breast Ultrasound, which eliminates some of the uncertainty associated with a human holding an ultrasound probe.”

Women with thick breast tissue are candidates for the Automated Breast Ultrasound. According to Dr. Malak, 85 percent of breast cancers are detected by routine mammograms. Women with thick breast tissue make up about 40% of the population.

“If breast cancer develops in a woman with dense breast tissue, we might not see it 30% of the time,” he stated. “Basically, the breast cancer is being concealed by the tissue, the normal tissue itself, so we need additional tools for that.”

It was the factor that altered Long’s war.

“It probably would have doubled in size if another year had passed, which is really scary because I couldn’t feel my tumor,” she remarked. “It wasn’t visible on the mammogram.”

Because Long’s cancer was discovered at Stage 1, her treatment period was shortened.

She claimed, “I was able to have a double mastectomy with reconstruction.” After surgery, I returned to work approximately six weeks later. I was significantly slower than I was prior to surgery, but now that I’ve been out for a year, I’m feeling fantastic.

That’s precisely what doctors like Malak want to see in their patients.

“The ability to use technology to care for our patients and give them a longer, healthier life is truly amazing,” he said.

The death rate from breast cancer has decreased by 40% since the early 1980s. Although medicines and technology have contributed to the decline in that number, Malak stated that screening more women will further reduce it.

Only 40 to 50 percent of women in Northeast Arkansas who are eligible for screening are, according to our estimates, getting screened. As radiologists, we may examine a patient’s medical history and determine that they never came for screening when they present with larger, more advanced breast tumors, he added. That is depressing. because we can provide patients with a fantastic tool. If they do not seek the necessary screening, we will be unable to assist them in prolonging their life.

Almost 85% of women who receive a diagnosis have never had breast cancer before. Among those women was Long. In the end, those screenings alter the conflict for “Pink Warriors,” allowing them to fight another day, much like Christy Long. Women should get checked, according to her greatest advise.

“Early detection saved my life and changed the course of my story,” she said. “I’m really grateful for it because the conclusion could have been very different.”