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Women's health

A breast cancer patient is rarely fighting alone

Why breast cancer prevention is critical and why it’s so important to find your own individual path in cancer treatment.

Early detectionIndividual treatment How to stay strong

One in two million

In 2020, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 685,000 deaths globally. By the end of 2020, there were 7.8 million women alive who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the previous five years1, making it the world’s most prevalent cancer.

Linda Gallant is our colleague. She found two lumps after a self-exam in 2020 only around a few months after one of the regular check-ups. Linda has been in healthcare all of her professional life and took her cancer on like a personal project. Naming the tumors (Midge and Beth) helped Linda to address her emotions directly to them, and helped her deal with the emotional rollercoaster that comes with a cancer diagnosis.

Early detection

As is the case with many types of cancer, there is little that can be done to avoid the occurrence of breast cancer. But whether due to fear of the result, reservations about what the unfamiliar examination might feel like, or simply due to procrastination, many women don’t make use of the early detection screenings available. This is problematic because time is the most important factor when it comes to early detection.

breast cancer in women
On average, 1 in 8 women develop breast cancer over the course of their lives. The rule of thumb is that the sooner the disease is detected, the lower the number and intensity of procedures, the better the chances of recovery and the sooner the patient will be able to return to a normal life.

How to improve your chances

Early detection remains the most important factor to improve the prognosis after a cancer diagnosis. By investing a short amount of time for a quick exam, patients can increase the likelihood of continuing life as usual.

Routine self-examination

  • Look at your breasts in the mirror with your arms by your sides and then with arms raised. Look for any skin changes such as dimpling, puckering, redness, changes in your nipples, or any discharge from them. 
  • Feel your breasts while lying down: Use the opposite hand to examine each breast with two fingertip pads, using small circular motions and covering the entire area of the breast (from outer arm pits to the nipples, across the space in between your breasts, and vertically from your collarbone to below the breasts. 
  • Feel your breasts while standing up: This is easiest done in the shower especially with a little soap over the area which makes fingers slide over the tissue and lumps easier to feel.
illustration of part one of a breast exam

Time is the most important factor

If breast cancer is diagnosed early on, the five-year survival rate is well above 90 percent in industrial countries.
Breast cancer in women

COVID-19 should not stop anyone from getting checked

This has not changed during the COVID-19 pandemic: The procedures continue to be available and can be carried out, also when strict infection prevention measures are in place. The virus should not stop anyone from getting checked, as breast cancer is not going to wait for life to return to normal.

AI provides smart support

As part of every preventive medical check-up, substantial data is generated that has to be analysed promptly. Artificial intelligence offers smart support for the experts.

Listen to our latest podcast episode 

Improving access to breast care with mobile screenings and AI
Healthcare Perspectives
21
Improving access to breast care with mobile screenings and AI
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0:00
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Learn about what breast cancer screening entails and the barriers stopping women from being screened. You’ll also find out about mobile mammography trucks and the problems they are solving. Additionally, you’ll hear about the role that artificial intelligence (AI) can play in improving the diagnostic process.

Individual treatment

Optimal outcomes for breast cancer depend on a timely diagnosis followed by an organized, multidisciplinary approach to individual treatment. Following the first pioneers on the field of breast cancer, Siemens Healthineers has remained committed to fighting this disease. Beginning with its first mammography system in 1972, further key developments such as tomosynthesis but also breast MRI and dedicated ultrasound solutions have helped us to offer ways to find cancer earlier and move toward personalized care. 

With the goal of supporting clinical decision-making throughout the entire care pathway, our portfolio includes imaging technology to attain the highest level of accuracy for screening, but also for diagnostics, disease characterization, and treatment. Emerging digital technologies complement and enhance these offerings, empowering decisions and making care more precise and efficient.

Mammography

An imaging technique in which low-energy X-rays are used to picture the breast tissue. Mammography makes alterations visible that cannot be detected through palpation yet. This includes lumps as well as calcium deposits and cysts.
Breast cancer pathway circle
Christian Weissenberger

Radiation therapy will continue to evolve to become even more precise.

Christian Weissenberger, MD, Breast Center Südbaden
Examination and treatments are becoming more gentle as technology advances. Examples of this include patient-oriented development of the contact surfaces, imaging diagnostics becoming ever more refined, as well as targeted, minimally invasive procedures.

Mammography

An imaging technique in which low-energy X-rays are used to picture the breast tissue. Mammography makes alterations visible that cannot be detected through palpation yet. This includes lumps as well as calcium deposits and cysts.

Mammography is the most efficient method for this purpose, and more effective than palpation. Experts assume that the average size of a lump detected by mammography is 0.5 cm, while the average size of a lump that women can detect through regular self-examination is around 2 cm.

What is a mammography?

An imaging technique in which low-energy X-rays are used to picture the breast tissue. Mammography makes alterations visible that cannot be detected through palpation yet. This includes lumps as well as calcium deposits and cysts.

A closer look at modern mammography

Watch this video to learn more about the ways modern mammography is used today to improve diagnostic results.

What is a Mammogram?

Oncology-focused solutions. Patient-focused care.

Varian and Siemens Healthineers are dedicated to connecting all care aspects to achieve a world without fear of cancer. Intelligent Cancer Care™ stands for integrated, connected care pathways designed to drive efficiencies and deliver world-class treatment along the cancer continuum to increase impact where it matters most: patients.
To help patients prepare for the fight, Varian provides a brief outline of what they can expect during treatment with radiotherapy and radiosurgery.
Breast cancer treatment with VARIAN
Alexander Büttner

The better the image quality, the more accurate the detection.

Alexander Büttner, MD, Breast Center Südbaden

Tomosynthesis overcomes diagnostic challenges such as overlapping tissue. Alexander Büttner from Breast Center Südbaden explains why it can also help to detect cancer earlier.

Therapy will continue to evolve

The Breast Center Südbaden in Freiburg, southwest Germany, doesn’t just offer breast cancer patients state-of-the-art diagnostics and therapy with high-tech equipment from Siemens Healthineers. It also accompanies women with breast cancer from discovery to recovery through special services.

Christian Weissenberger, MD, from Breast Center Südbaden takes a look at the future. In his opinion, radiation therapy will be an essential part of breast care therapy tomorrow, and it will continue to evolve to become even more precise.

How to stay strong

Portrait of Dany Michalski

Get different opinions, get the best doctors and make sure it is the best equipment.

Dany Michalski, TV presenter and breast cancer patient

How to gain confidence

How long will I have to undergo radiation treatment? Is radiation treatment painful or uncomfortable? Will I be alone in the treatment room? As a cancer patient, you have a lot of questions and uncertainty can arise if answers keep you waiting. Only if we build up knowledge, can we be confident in dealing with the disease. Our colleagues at Varian provide you with information and answers to your most pressing questions.

A very personal matter

Staying mentally healthy throughout the period of treatment and recovery is essential. And what you know can make all the difference. One of the best ways people can learn about treatment is from the stories of those who have experienced it firsthand. We invite you to watch our patient stories.

  1. 1 WHO EMRO | Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2021 | Campaigns | Les maladies non transmissibles 
    2 American Cancer society. Breast Cancer Facts& Figures 2019-2020. Atlanta: American Cancer Society, Inc. 2019; S.20. 

    The statements by Siemens Healthineers customers described herein are based on results that were achieved in the customer’s unique setting. Since there is no “typical” hospital and many variables exist (e.g., hospital size, case mix, level of IT adoption) there can be no guarantee that other customers will achieve the same results.  

    Clinical speakers receive financial support from Siemens Healthineers for collaborations.