Molecular Basis of Breast Cancer Imaging

Over the past decade, annually for women 50 years of age or older, the breast cancer incidence rate in the United States has ranged from 400 to 500 per 100 000 women and the breast cancer mortality rate has ranged from 60 to 80 per 100 000 women. Though there has been a decline in the breast cancer mortality in the past decade it continues to be the second leading cause of death after lung cancer in women over 40 years of age. Breast cancer continues to be a major health issue among women in the United States. Screening mammogram has significantly contributed to the reduction in mortality. However, screening mammogram has its own limitations. Its sensitivity is 80 % in fatty breasts but is substantially lower in dense breasts. On average nearly 30 % of women reporting for mammograms have dense breasts and 1 in 2 cancers in dense breasts are missed on mammograms due to the masking effect caused by overlapping tissues.