{"id":26154,"date":"2026-10-08T18:18:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/?p=26154"},"modified":"2026-10-08T20:45:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T16:45:00","slug":"when-a-woman-undergoes-regular-breast-screening-diagnosis-is-made-before-symptoms-appear-making-treatment-both-simpler-and-more-effective-which-is-why-the-focus-should-be-on-timely-preventive-check-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/when-a-woman-undergoes-regular-breast-screening-diagnosis-is-made-before-symptoms-appear-making-treatment-both-simpler-and-more-effective-which-is-why-the-focus-should-be-on-timely-preventive-check-up\/","title":{"rendered":"October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month"},"content":{"rendered":"
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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month worldwide \u2014 a period that reminds us that taking care of one’s health and timely prevention are the main conditions for saving lives.<\/div>\n
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In Georgia, breast cancer still holds first place among female oncological diseases \u2014 up to 1,700 new cases are registered annually. However, against the background of modern medical achievements and rising awareness, the rate of detecting the disease at an early stage is increasingly growing, which gives a more than 90% chance of full recovery.<\/div>\n
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What do modern standards of breast cancer prevention and diagnostics include? When should a woman undergo screening, what does the free state program provide, and how has treatment tactics changed in recent years?<\/div>\n
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Within the framework of “Pink October”, mammologist and surgical oncologist Teimuraz Gogitidze<\/span><\/strong> spoke to us about the importance of screening, myths, and modern treatment possibilities.<\/div>\n
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What are the most common misconceptions about breast cancer?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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The first and most common misconception is that undergoing an examination must necessarily be linked to some symptom. Patients often think that if nothing bothers them, visiting a doctor or undergoing screening (mammography) is not necessary. In reality, breast tumors usually do not show any symptoms before stage two. Accordingly, when a woman notices a formation or feels a change herself, it is already at least stage two.<\/div>\n
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The second widespread myth relates to pain. Many believe that breast pain is a sign of a tumor. In 90-95% of cases, pain is not associated with oncological pathology at all. Of course, this does not mean that we should ignore it, an examination is still needed, though pain does not constitute an essential symptom of cancer.<\/div>\n
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The third and most harmful myth is the fear of biopsy. Many believe that a biopsy might cause the process to worsen or the tumor to spread. No type of biopsy causes an oncological process or promotes the spread of the disease. It is precisely during the lost time that the tumor is given the opportunity to grow and progress, and not due to the biopsy itself being performed.<\/div>\n
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You mentioned that symptoms mostly appear from stage two, specifically what signs should a patient pay attention to?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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The most frequent symptom is the appearance of a lump (hardness) in the breast or abnormal discharge (bloody or amber\/clear) from the nipple. As for skin changes and puckering, these are already signs of stages three to four. In modern medicine, appealing to such late symptoms is an outdated approach \u2014 from a time when diagnostic tools did not exist.<\/div>\n
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When a woman undergoes regular breast screening, the diagnosis is made before symptoms appear, and treatment is simpler and more effective \u2014 therefore, the focus should be placed not on waiting for symptoms, but on timely preventive examinations.<\/div>\n
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How effective is breast self-examination at home?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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According to modern medical literature, targeted self-examination is not effective and does not positively impact survival rates \u2014 on the contrary, it often causes unnecessary anxiety and worry. The reason for this is that during an unprofessional examination, women often perceive the natural, glandular unevenness of the breast as a pathology, which causes false alarm, extra stress, and unnecessary medical examinations. Of course, observing one’s body and understanding it during hygienic procedures is important, but self-examination cannot replace a medical examination.<\/div>\n
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From what age and at what intervals should a woman undergo ultrasound or mammography research if she has no complaints?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Ultrasound examination is completely harmless, simple, and accessible. It is desirable for a woman to undergo her first ultrasound examination at a young age (from 18\u201320 years). If no problem is identified at the initial stage, undergoing the examination once every two years until age 40 is optimal. Establishing the habit of preventive check-ups is very important \u2014 the earlier in age this process becomes a routine part of life, the more natural, calm, and less stressful it is for the patient.<\/div>\n
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From age 40, routine screening with mammography begins. This is a simple, 10\u201315-minute procedure. Within the national screening program operating in Georgia, breast cancer screening (mammography, and if necessary, mammologist consultation and ultrasound examination) is free once every 2 years for women aged 40 to 70 inclusive.<\/div>\n
If no pathology is revealed on the mammogram, according to standard recommendations, the next visit is scheduled in 2 years. Above the age of 70, since the prevalence of the disease at this age is rare, the need and frequency of performing a mammogram is evaluated individually by the treating physician.<\/div>\n
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If a suspicious change is noticed on the mammogram where the chance of malignancy is very low (less than 2%), but the area still requires observation, the doctor may call the patient for a repeat examination in 6 months or 1 year. It is important for the patient to understand that this does not mean a cancer diagnosis \u2014 it is only a means of observing a specific area to ensure that the process is stable.<\/div>\n
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What is considered the leading examination for early detection of breast cancer and what role does artificial intelligence play in modern diagnostics?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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The number one examination for early diagnostics is mammography. Patients often think that ultrasound examination (echoscopy) is an alternative to mammography, but this is not the case. Mammography can see microcalcifications \u2014 dots less than a millimeter in size that do not appear on ultrasound at all. For 2 years now, we have been actively using artificial intelligence (AI) when reading mammograms. Breast screening is the first field where artificial intelligence has shown maximum effectiveness \u2014 it significantly simplifies the diagnostic process.<\/div>\n
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What do screening statistics say \u2014 how often are pathologies detected?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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According to official statistics, out of every 1,000 women who come for screening, additional research is prescribed or a different recommendation is given to approximately 20\u201350 patients (2-5%), meaning in more than 95% of cases the response is completely normal.<\/div>\n
While the probability of detecting breast cancer directly during screening is approximately 0.5-0.6% (that is, 5-6 cases per 1,000 examined). Even in this tiny fraction of cases, the disease is mostly detected at stage zero or one, which is subject to complete cure with minor surgical intervention, often without chemotherapy.<\/div>\n
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Who needs genetic testing, what does family history mean, and how often is breast cancer hereditary?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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It is important to note that genetic predisposition occurs in only 5 – 10% of breast cancer cases. Accordingly, the absolute majority of cases \u2014 more than 90 – 95% \u2014 are not hereditary and develop completely randomly\/sporadically against the background of other environmental or age factors.<\/div>\n
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Genetic testing is performed precisely to accurately determine the real, individual risk \u2014 to establish who truly needs special, intensive monitoring (for example, mammography from an early age or MRI) and to avoid unfounded fear.<\/div>\n
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Hereditary genetic testing is recommended when breast or ovarian cancer was diagnosed in two first- or second-degree close relatives in the family (mother, aunt, sister).<\/div>\n
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Here, the lineage is very important: it matters greatly whether the cases of the disease are recorded on one line (for example, mother and maternal aunt) or in representatives of different branches (for example, grandmother on father’s side and aunt on mother’s side). If the cases belong to different lines, this may not even be considered a genetic predisposition.<\/div>\n
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When a case of the disease is recorded in only one relative, testing is not automatically prescribed \u2014 consultation with an oncologist or geneticist is necessary, during which the patient’s age, degree of relationship, and tumor type are evaluated in detail.<\/div>\n
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For decades, genetic testing was limited only to examining BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes; today, checking only these two genes is not enough. In modern medicine, multigene oncology panels are used, which test dozens of other related genes, and today this research is fully accessible to patients.<\/div>\n
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Apart from genetic factors, what risk factors exist for developing breast cancer in the modern world?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Confirmed risk factors are tobacco smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. As for hormonal interventions, for example, continuous intake of contraceptive pills for decades \u2014 this may to some extent increase the risk of developing breast cancer.<\/div>\n
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What are modern treatment approaches and how much has the need for chemotherapy changed?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Medicine has developed significantly. For example, if previously we administered chemotherapy to 10 out of 10 patients, today a special genetic test \u2014 Oncotype \u2014 is performed, which tells us exactly whether a specific patient needs chemotherapy. In the majority of cases (approximately 8 out of 10 patients), the test shows that chemotherapy is not needed, and hormone therapy or targeted therapy is completely sufficient for the patient.<\/div>\n
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How have surgical approaches changed in recent years \u2014 how often is organ preservation achieved, and what alternative exists if removal of the breast gland is still necessary?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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In my practice, the trend has changed radically, especially over the last 5 years. If previously full removal of the breast was required in 8 out of 10 operations and preservation was possible in only 2, today it is the opposite \u2014 organ preservation is achieved in 9 cases. This is connected not only to general advances in medicine; the indicator is directly proportional to early diagnostics: today we mostly detect tumor formations up to 1-2 centimeters in size, which allows for organ preservation.<\/div>\n
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Nowadays, reconstruction has developed to such an extent that even in cases where tissue excision is necessary, a subcutaneous mastectomy is performed \u2014 the skin is preserved, and shape restoration occurs with an implant (silicone).<\/div>\n
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What will be your main message for women within the framework of “Pink October”?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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My main message is that we must get used to visiting the clinic without a reason and undergoing preventive screening. We should not wait for symptoms. An examination conducted once a year or every two years is a guarantee of a calm and healthy life.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month worldwide \u2014 a period that reminds us that taking care of one’s health and timely prevention are the main conditions for saving lives. In Georgia, breast cancer still holds first place among female oncological diseases \u2014 up to 1,700 new cases are registered annually. However, against the background of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":26153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1653,1594],"tags":[3509,5259],"class_list":["post-26154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-interview","category-news","tag-skriningi","tag-dzudzus-kibo"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26154"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26255,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26154\/revisions\/26255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}