The best time to get a mammogram is now

Q: "Does it matter if I missed my mammogram last year due to the pandemic?"

A lot of women did, according to Catherine D. Carruthers, MD, FACS, a Main Line Health breast surgeon and the medical director for the Barbara Brodsky Comprehensive Breast Center at Bryn Mawr Hospital, who says she's now seeing the impact of delayed and missed mammograms.

The best time to get a mammogram, pandemic or not, she advises, is now.

Watch Dr. Carruthers on 6abc talking about the importance of keeping up with mammograms

"A lot of patients are coming in with abnormal mammograms," says Dr. Carruthers, explaining that abnormal mammograms are not always an indication of cancer.

However, Carruthers is seeing larger cancers and some of them "seem to be a bit more advanced," she believes, "more so than if we had caught them in 2020."

She's also seeing more cancers involving lymph nodes. Larger cancers that affect the lymph nodes often require more aggressive breast cancer treatment and more frequently, the need for patients to receive chemotherapy.

They might need more extensive radiation or sometimes even more extensive surgery than if they'd had their mammogram last year," says Carruthers.

Best time to get a mammogram when there's breast cancer in your family

Ann Newman, 80, stays on top of her health with regular workouts, good eating, and keeping stress down.

With breast cancer in her family, Ann wasn't about to miss her yearly mammogram last year, regardless of the pandemic.

"I never miss, ever, since I was 40 years old," she says, understanding that breast health is lifelong.

As the breast technicians continued to take pictures and then did a biopsy, Ann knew something was amiss.

"In fact, they found a small tumor," she recalls. "Because it was small and not invasive, we came up with ten treatments, which was really very simple.

Ann had breast surgery to remove the tumor, followed by a course of radiation. She now takes medication every day to prevent breast cancer from returning and she advises her friends and loved ones to stay on top of their breast screenings—and to catch up if needed. Ann made sure to share her story with a neighbor who was still carrying her mammogram prescription in her purse.

"As soon as I got the diagnosis, I went to see her and told her the best time to get a mammogram is now. Don't mess with it. Just go—and so she did."

Scheduling a mammogram is easy at any of Main Line Health's 10 convenient health centers and hospital locations.

No woman wants to be called back after having a mammogram, but when there is a suspicious finding additional imaging may be needed, usually an ultrasound or other mammography images. If this imaging also shows a suspicious finding, a biopsy is typically recommended, and a breast cancer nurse navigator meets with the patient. As a rule, patients with an abnormal diagnostic mammogram or a new breast lump are seen by a breast surgeon within 48 hours to determine the optimal biopsy approach.

Schedule a screening by calling 484.580.1800.

^{* For more information about eligibility, call Lankenau Medical Center at 484.476.8554 or Bryn Mawr Hospital at 610.325.1390 to speak with a representative from community health services.}