As we all know, mammography is the gold standard test for early breast cancer detection.^[1]

Breast cancer deaths are reduced by 30% to 50% with annual screening mammography performed on all women beginning at age 40 years.^[2]

Also, it’s much more comfortable and quicker these days to get a mammogram- thanks to progressing technology such as 3D mammography.

But How Do Mammograms Detect Heart Disease?

Along with breast cancer, heart diseases present a big life-threatening risk for women.^[3] The good news is that your routine breast-cancer screening mammogram may also be useful to detect heart diseases.

A study published recently reviewed the screening mammograms of 5,059 females aged 60 to 79 who had no heart disease history. The mammograms also revealed calcium deposits in the breast arteries of 1,338 (26.5%) of these women, while scanning for early breast cancer detection.^[4]

Calcium in your arteries is a danger sign. This happens after you’ve had fat and cholesterol accumulating in your arteries for about five years.^[5]

This condition called calcification makes the arteries narrow and stiff, causing less blood supply to your vital organs including the heart and brain, and constantly exposing you to a higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

In fact, calcification makes heart treatment such as angioplasty difficult too. It’s harder to expand a stent in a calcified artery to keep it open.

The research team then followed these 1,338 women with calcified breast arteries for average of 6.5 years to see if they later developed heart attack, stroke, or other diseases caused by calcification. They found that these women, with breast artery calcification, were 51% more likely to be diagnosed with a heart attack or stroke, and 23% more likely to develop any form of cardiovascular disease.^[6]

This is first such study that looked at how breast artery health exposed by a screening mammogram for breast cancer can be used to predict future heart disease in older women. The same team plans to investigate whether this method is also helpful in predicting cardiovascular diseases among younger women, ages 40 through 59.⁷

These new observations may trigger a revision of mammography guidelines in the future to report not only breast cancer-related findings but also breast artery calcifications to prevent or treat heart diseases.

What Should I Do Meanwhile?

That’s a great question. Here are five key recommendations for your immediate consideration.

1. Never miss your annual screening mammography schedule: Mammography has become more comfortable than ever before, as we discussed above. It’s a simple daycare test that doesn’t even need a doctor’s prescription. It’s a non-invasive, quick, and very accurate breast cancer screening modality compared to any other alternative of today. Hence never miss your annual mammography schedule. A stitch in time saves nine, as they say.
2. Even if you don’t have a family history of breast cancer, you need an annual screening: Only 5%-10% of breast cancer cases are associated with a family history^[8]. The vast majority of breast cancers occur due to unknown causes and factors such as environment, lifestyle, obesity, etc. Hence, even if you have no family history of breast or any other cancer, please do get a mammography screening done every year without fail.
3. Even if your last year’s mammogram was normal, you need a mammogram this year: Mammograms do not provide immunity against breast cancer. The past mammograms neither predict nor assure that you will be cancer-free in the future. Also, interval cancers, meaning cancers occurring between two consecutive annual screening mammograms, can suddenly emerge. Hence, medical experts recommend prompt annual mammograms to detect cancers when they are very small in size and very much confined to the breast alone.
4. Do not depend on self-breast-exam for early detection: Most medical organizations across the world do not recommend self-breast-exam for routine screening^[9] because it does not help early detection. By the time the lump is big enough to be felt by your or your doctor’s hands, it’s already too big, and too late in most cases.

5. Annual screening mammograms can substantially reduce your stress & medical expenses: Just like car insurance that you buy every year with a small premium to protect yourself against a potentially large expense due to an accident that may never occur; spending a small amount on mammography every year may help you save 30% to over 100% of the treatment costs of breast cancer compared to the women who present with advanced-stage breast cancers¹⁰.Early detection may also qualify you for less invasive treatment options. For example, in early breast cancers, chemotherapy may be completely avoided thereby saving you the costs incurred and its side effects.Most importantly, a small yearly investment in screening mammography may save immense stress to your loved ones which is a priceless benefit if you agree.

If you are eligible for breast screening either by age (40 years and above) or due to high-risk factors such as family history (in which case even if you are younger than 40 years), subscribe to an Annual Screening Mammography plan – A simple ritual that can save your life!

1. https://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/features/mammography-still-gold-standard-for-breast-cancer Accessed on 23 Aug 2022.
2. _{Feig S. Comparison of Costs and Benefits of Breast Cancer Screening with Mammography, Ultrasonography, and MRI. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America. 2011;38(1):179-196. doi: 10.1016/j.ogc.2011.02.009}
3. Mehta LS, Watson KE, Barac A, et al. Cardiovascular Disease and Breast Cancer: Where These Entities Intersect: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2018;137(8). doi:10.1161/cir.0000000000000556
4. Iribarren C, Chandra M, Lee C, et al. Breast Arterial Calcification: a Novel Cardiovascular Risk Enhancer Among Postmenopausal Women. Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. 2022;15(3). doi:10.1161/circimaging.121.013526
5. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22953-coronary-artery-calcification Accessed on 23 Aug 2022.
6. https://spotlight.kaiserpermanente.org/mammography-can-offer-clues-to-a-womans-heart-health/ Accessed on 23 Aug 2022.
7. Liu L, Hao X, Song Z, Zhi X, Zhang S, Zhang J. Correlation between family history and characteristics of breast cancer. Scientific Reports. 2021;11(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-021-85899-8
8. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/breast-exam/about/pac-20393237 Accessed on 6 June 2022.
9. National Center for Health Statistics . vol. 65. 2016. National vital statisitcs reports; pp. 1–122. no. 4, (06/30/2016) [Google Scholar]