The Breast Diaries

Q & A : Which Tests Are Best? When Should I Start?

October 22nd, 2012

By Stacey Vitiello, MD

If I am at high risk for breast cancer, what imaging tests should I be having each year, starting a what age?

  •    If you have a strong family history of breast cancer (mother or sister premenopausal), start having your mammogram 10 years younger than the age that relative was diagnosed, OR at age 40, whichever is younger; but not before age 25. For example, if your sister had breast cancer when she was 44, you should start having your mammogram at age 34. If your mother had breast cancer at 60, you would start having your annual mammogram
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Christina Applegate Foundation Gives Direct Financial Aid for Breast MRI

October 6th, 2011

In 2009, the year after she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 36 after a screening Breast MRI test, actress Christina Applegate founded Right Action for Women (www.rightactionforwomen.org), a foundation dedicated to educating women about what it means to be at “high risk” for breast cancer.

In addition to education, the foundation offers financial assistance for women 45 years old and younger, with a family history of breast cancer or with a positive BRCA gene test, to gain access to Breast MRI, regardless of insurance status. Insurance companies often …

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