HCA Virginia's new mammography technology detects cancer early
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HCA Virginia is the first healthcare system in Central Virginia to offer a new type of mammogram that can detect up to two to three times as many cancers as a regular mammogram.
Using contrast dye that goes to areas of increased blood flow, cancers are illuminated because they have more abnormal blood vessels. This new mammogram is part of the high-risk breast clinic at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital’s Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute.
Once a patient is identified as high-risk, through family history and other factors, a variety of options such as supplemental screenings are available to help detect the disease in its earliest stages. The team at the high-risk breast clinic, which includes medical oncologists, genetic counselors, and nurse navigators, supports patients throughout the journey.
Each year, more than one million people are diagnosed with cancer, and approximately 5-10% of those cancers are hereditary. However, only a small fraction of people with a hereditary predisposition to cancer learn that fact and get tested. The goal of HCA Virginia’s program is to identify patients at higher risk before a cancer develops and offer personalized screening and risk-reducing options.
