• Screening refers to tests and exams used to find a disease, like cancer, in people who do not have any symptoms. The goal of screening exams, such as mammograms, is to find cancers before they start to cause symptoms. Breast cancers that are found because they can be felt tend to be larger and are more likely to have already spread beyond the breast. In contrast, breast cancers found during screening exams are more likely to be small and still confined to the breast. The size of a breast cancer and how far it has spread are important factors in predicting the prognosis (outlook) for a woman with this disease.

Early detection tests for breast cancer can save many thousands of lives each year, and that many more lives could be saved if even more women and their health care providers took advantage of these tests.

• A breast self-examination involves checking your breasts for lumps or changes while standing and lying in different positions and while looking at your breasts in a mirror to note any changes in their appearance. Once you know what your breasts normally look and feels like, any new lump or change in appearance should be evaluated by a doctor. Most breast problems or changes are not because of cancer.

• A mammogram is an x-ray picture of the breast. Screening mammograms are used to check for breast cancer in women who have no signs or symptoms of the disease. Diagnostic mammograms are used to check for breast cancer after a lump or other sign or symptom of the disease has been found , Screening mammography can help reduce the number of deaths from breast cancer among women ages 40 to 74, is also associated with potential harms, including false-negative results, false-positive results, the diagnosis and treatment of cancers that would not have caused symptoms or threatened a woman’s life