While the drug tamoxifen (brand name, Nolvadex) has long been prescribed to help prevent a recurrence of breast cancer after treatment, a drug called Arimidex (generic name, anastrozole) may be more effective in post-menopausal women. According to study results presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December 2004, Arimidex reduced the chances of breast cancer returning after treatment by 26% more than tamoxifen without some of the potentially severe side effects that can be associated with tamoxifen, such as endometrial cancer
(cancer of the uterine lining). Based on these results, the
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Technology Assessment Panel changed its guidelines regarding early-stage breast cancer treatment. Physicians should now consider a drug like Arimidex, on its own or in combination with tamoxifen, to prevent breast cancer from returning after treatment.

A recent study finds that women who take oral contraceptives (i.e., birth control pills), are not at greater risk of developing breast cancer, compared to women who do not them. In the largest women's health study to date, women who took oral contraceptives for at least four years were 7% less likely to develop any type of cancer and were at lower risk of developing ovarian or uterine cancers. Approximately 16 million women currently use oral contraceptives and over 45 million women have taken "the Pill" at some point in their lives. While recent studies have shown that taking hormones later in life-around
menopause-may increase breast cancer risk, the results of the current study can reassure women that oral contraceptives taken among women of child-bearing age do not increase breast cancer risk.

A recent study finds that many women diagnosed with advanced, or
metastatic breast cancer, had not undergone routine mammography within the prior one to three years.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that, "As many as 92 percent of late-stage breast cancer cases in the United States could be diagnosed and treated earlier, when there is greater likelihood of effective treatment, if the healthcare system focused on recruiting women who have not been recently screened, and if early detection techniques could be improved to more accurately detect cancer."

Breast size, shape and breast tissue density is different for every woman. Achieving an optimal mammogram image requires skill and careful attention to several factors by the mammography technologist and radiologist. This article presents tips and topics for an optimal mammogram.