An annual mammogram can help identify abnormalities at the earliest possible stage. This knowledge can be powerful in the fight against cancer.


Breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer-related death among American women. Now, a new tool is available at Trident Health System that is especially helpful at detecting breast cancer in women with dense breasts.
Tool for the Digital Age
Digital mammography uses a computer to record images of the breast produced through X-rays.
“Radiologists can view digital images more efficiently and patients need fewer repeat mammograms, which lowers their exposure to low-dose radiation,” says John G. McGue, MD, radiologist with Trident Breast Care Center at Trident Health System. “Younger, premenopausal women with dense breasts benefit greatly from this new technology, which can depict cancers easier and earlier.”
Benefits Just Keep Coming
Digital mammography also enables physicians to adjust the brightness, contrast and zoom in order to focus on suspicious areas to check closely for calcium deposits, masses or lumps, distorted tissues, new or asymmetrical dense areas and other possible signs of breast cancer.
“We also provide women in the community with a variety of other services related to early breast cancer detection, including education, breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, needle localization and breast biopsies,” says Jennifer Cranny, MD, medical director with Trident Breast Care Center at Trident Health System. “When detected early, breast cancer has a high cure rate. To us, it is all about saving lives.”