Who Can Benefit from ABUS Technology?

Automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) is an innovative technology that’s used to screen women with dense breasts for breast cancer. 

Research shows that nearly 50% of women have dense breasts, and those women are twice as likely to develop breast cancer. You can have more or less dense breasts due to numerous factors like genetics, age, giving birth, or using hormone replacement therapy. 

Having dense breasts isn’t a worrisome medical condition on its own, but it not only increases your risk for developing breast cancer, but it also prevents breast cancer from being detected effectively. This is where ABUS comes in. At Women’s Specialty Care, Karen Mass, MD, FACOG, and the rest of our team offer ABUS as a supplemental way to screen for breast cancer. We want you to understand why having dense breasts is significant and what key role ABUS technology plays in diagnosing breast cancer.

What are dense breasts?

If you have dense breasts, it means your breasts are made up of more glandular and connective tissue and less fatty tissue than women with non-dense breasts. You can’t tell that you have dense breasts by looking at their size or shape or by the feel of them; in fact, dense breasts can only be detected through a mammogram.

Because dense breasts are made up of more of that glandular and connective tissue, it increases your risk of developing breast cancer. In addition, because dense breast tissue shows up white on a mammogram, as does anything cancerous, it’s difficult to properly detect and diagnose breast cancer.

Why you need ABUS for dense breasts

Fortunately, there’s plenty of supplemental testing available for dense breasts. These tests help to ensure those with dense breasts get accurate cancer screening results. ABUS and 3D mammograms work together to ensure you’re properly screened for breast cancer.

ABUS uses sound waves in order to produce images of your breasts. The technology is able to take hundreds of images that cover almost the entirety of your breasts. When ABUS is used along with a 3D mammogram, it ensures that every area is looked at closely and thoroughly so as not to miss any abnormalities.

Next steps

If you already know that you have dense breasts, it’s important to receive a mammogram along with ABUS every single year in order to be screened for breast cancer, since having dense breasts puts you at a higher risk for cancer. 

If you’re due for a mammogram, come see us at one of our office locations in Lake Forest and Grayslake, Illinois. You can schedule an appointment with our team by giving us a call or by using our online scheduler today.