What do you want women to know heading into Breast Cancer Awareness Month?

I want to stress the importance of regular breast screenings. If a patient is having a problem or suspects something is not right, they should talk with their doctor. The biggest message I can provide is that breast cancer is curable and treatable and if it’s caught early, most will survive.

Are you concerned there may be an impact on cancer rates in years to come due to patients fearing covid-19 and avoiding regular cancer screenings?

Finding breast cancers at an early and curable stage requires regular mammography and it’s important for women to follow screening guidelines and for men to be screened for anything suspicious. I know we are taking steps to maintain a safe environment in the hospitals or doctors’ offices. From my perspective, my patient’s concern about possible breast cancer outweighs the fear of a potential COVID19 exposure, especially knowing we are strictly following CDC guidelines to maintain a clean and safe experience. If you have put off your annual screening, make sure you get it scheduled. Do not wait.

What important advances have been made in breast imaging in the 20 years you have been practicing?

Early in my career, mammograms were essentially on film that had to be processed and developed. We moved to digital, which was a great improvement, but in 2011, breast tomosynthesis was the single most improvement in our ability to detect breast cancer at a much earlier stage. This is a 3D, digital Xray. UPMC installed tomosynthesis immediately, so I and other radiologists in the UPMC system began using this technology as soon as it was available.

How has it changed patient care?

Tomosynthesis allows us to find breast cancers at an earlier stage when tumors are very small. That’s my goal always. To find breast cancers when they’re small, curable and treatable to give men and women the best chance of beating this disease. More than 90% of breast cancers are curable but they need to be found early.

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