Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Mammography is a direct X-ray of your breasts for breast cancer screening. By enabling early detection of breast cancer, mammography increases the probability of complete recovery from the disease and reduces breast cancer-related deaths. For this reason, mammography has a very important place in women's health.

Mammography is performed by compressing the breast tissue between two hard floors and the black and white films obtained are interpreted by the doctor. Mammography can be performed for the purpose of diagnosis in suspicious cases such as a change in breast color, a new lesion on the nipple, pain in the breast or a palpable mass, or it can be performed for screening purposes without any complaints or findings. It is generally recommended that mammography be performed every one or two years after the age of 40. In women with a clear family history of breast cancer or who have a genetic risk, mammography can be performed before the age of 40, if the doctor deems it necessary, and magnetic resonance evaluation can be applied in addition to mammography.

In mammography, a radiation dose is taken so low that it does not pose a risk to health. A mammogram can be somewhat painful. However, a significant portion of women describe it as discomfort rather than pain. Especially in the young age group and/or women with dense breast content, mammography alone may not provide information or be difficult to interpret. In this case, additional methods such as ultrasonography and biopsy may be required. However, digital mammography technique, which has been applied in recent years, provides significant benefits, especially in women with dense breast content, especially in women under the age of 50. Previous films play an important role in the interpretation of findings in mammography; Therefore, previous films must be brought in.

Abnormal findings on mammography do not mean cancer. Mammography findings are given according to an international diagnostic system, also called the BI-RADS system, which is scored from 1 to 7. Information, follow-up or treatment plan should be made by the doctor according to each mammography result. Mammography cannot accurately detect all cancers. In conclusion, mammography is a diagnostic and screening method that has a key role in the early diagnosis of breast cancer, which is very common in women, and it has an indispensable importance in women's health.