Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Despite advances in breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment, nearly 12% of patients with a diagnosis of breast cancer eventually develop metastatic disease, or breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body. No cure for metastatic breast cancer yet exists, and it is associated with a poor prognosis: The 5-year survival rate is 26%. Nevertheless, many treatments can improve and extend the lives of patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Breast intervention and breast cancer treatment options.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women in the United States. Although controversy has emerged in recent years regarding the diagnosis and treatment of this disease, it remains important to detect and treat breast cancer before it has metastasized. This article provides an overview of breast biopsy techniques, biopsy specimen imaging, and treatment options for breast cancer patients, including surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and molecular treatments.

Positioning challenges in mammography.

Patients presenting for mammography are different ages and sizes and have varying body habitus; they include men, those who arrive on a stretcher or in a wheelchair, and those with very small breasts, large or wide breasts, pectus excavatum or pectus carinatum, a barrel chest, or kyphosis. The true professional must know how to image patients who deviate from the norm. In addition to competent positioning skills and anatomical knowledge, the mammographer needs a thorough knowledge of the various projections and the skills to modify any projection to meet the needs of individual patients.