New digital mammography technology will help detect and fight breast cancer more effectively.

That means doctors may be able to detect more cancers at an earlier, more treatable stage — improving the odds of survival for breast cancer patients.

The new system is called full-field digital mammography, but the basic process is similar to that used by your digital camera.

Women receiving a mammogram will have the same experience they’ve always had. The difference comes in what happens as the X-rays are taken: With the new technology, X-rays are recorded as digital signals.

That means instead of waiting for films, doctors and technicians can view and assess the images almost instantly on computer screens.

And because the images are digital, they can be shared easily and quickly with other City of Hope experts — whether they’re in the next room or across campus.

This promotes the close teamwork among scientists, technicians, caregivers,
and patients City of Hope is famous for.

What This Means for Women

Digital mammography’s main selling points are speed and ease of storing
images. But for some women, the benefits could be even greater.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005 showed that digital mammography was more effective at detecting cancer in three groups: women with dense breast tissue, women in their 40s and women just entering menopause.

“Women in any of those groups may want to seek out digital mammography,”
said radiologist Sally Shaw, M.D., chief of City of Hope’s breast imaging section. “The most important thing, though, is for all women to have a mammogram regularly.”

For more information about City of Hope’s breast cancer screening
program, visit us online at www.cityofhope.org/BreastCancer.

Thank you for supporting City of Hope’s commitment to putting the latest tools and techniques to work
in the fight to end cancer!