Reduced-cost Screening Mammograms to Promote Early Detection and Treatment
Limited Time Offer Available at Four Convenient South Bay Locations
To schedule a screening, call 310-517-4738.
In response to 30-year study finding that women who had regular screening mammograms were 31 percent less likely to die of breast cancer, compared to women who didn't get regular screening mammograms,
Torrance Memorial will offer a discounted cash price of $125 for screening mammograms between October 1 and December 31, 2011.
The screening mammograms will be offered at the
Torrance Memorial Vasek & Anna Maria Polak Breast Diagnostic Center's four South Bay locations
in Torrance, Carson, Manhattan Beach and Rolling Hills Estates.
The very large, long-term Swedish study, which began in 1977 and involved 133,000 women ages 40 to 74, was published in the June 2011 issue of Radiology. It found for every 414 women screened over seven years, one death from breast cancer was prevented.
"In our current economic climate, many women are finding it necessary to place their own health care on the backburner," said Patricia Sacks, M.D., medical director, Polak Breast Diagnostic Center. "A digital mammogram takes just a few minutes, but can uncover disease in the earliest stages while it's most treatable. Our goal with this offer is to make it easier for women to give themselves a pre-holiday gift-a gift that could save her life."
Early diagnosis through mammography can allow for less invasive treatment, limit the spread into other parts of the body and save a life. A mammogram is a digital image of the breast tissue. A screening mammogram is a mammogram that is performed on a woman without breast symptoms.
The value of routine mammogram screening had been questioned in November 2009 when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that routine screening mammograms for women with an average risk of breast cancer should start at age 50 instead of 40. The recommended changes were very controversial and were not adopted. Much research supports the value of mammogram screening starting at age 40. U.S. guidelines call for all women age 40 and older to have screening mammograms every year. While not ideal, some women may choose to have a screening every other year.
Since 1986, the Vasek & Anna Maria Polak Breast Diagnostic Center at Torrance Memorial has been a leader in women's health care in the South Bay community and beyond. Designed for the specific needs and comfort of women, its four convenient locations are staffed with compassionate experts, including nurse navigators, trained specifically in breast disease. The Center is recognized by the American College of Radiology as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence. In addition, the Breast Diagnostic Center is a member of the National Consortium of Breast Centers, a non-profit organization of breast health care professionals dedicated to the continued excellence and improvement of breast health care.
The Center's board-certified radiologists use a full toolkit of imaging services for quick and accurate screening. All appointments and procedures take place in a single private suite, where patients and their families have access to radiologists and registered nurses who can answer any questions that arise. All four Breast Diagnostic Center locations are certified in mammography by the state of California, the FDA, and accredited by the ACR.
To schedule a screening, call 310-517-4738.