Repeated mammographies has become incriminated, in some cases, as (1) a possible cause of breast carcinoma. Patient feedback describes a standard mammography as (2) being very painful ("they squished my breasts! It is so painful."). Mammographies have also been spot lighted for (3) over diagnosis, (3) mis-diagnosis and creating a scare in a certain number of patients.
There is also (anecdotal?) (4) evidence of slow growing breast cancers being found and treated, carcinomas that many not have lowered the lifespan or quality of life of the patient if not treated; a case of the cure being worse than the disease. Finally, is there some truth in the (5) hypothesis that forcible squeezing of the breasts could actually cause rupture and 'spillage' of cancerous cells from otherwise well encapsulated lesions, thereby increasing/ hastening the spread? There is now this (relatively) new procedure…
