MAMI Marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month With a Call for Yearly Screening

Breast Cancer Awareness Month has arrived with October, and MAMI (Melrose Arch Mammography), the breast imaging centre based in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, is seizing the moment to urge women to pencil an annual screening into their calendars. The clinic keeps its advice simple: a mammogram once a year from age 40, routine self-examination, and quick imaging the instant anything in the breast feels different. Now that spring is in full swing and the year is drawing toward its close, anyone who has fallen behind on screening would do well to book ahead of the December shutdown.

Under one roof, MAMI provides mammograms, breast ultrasound and image-guided breast biopsies, backed by seasoned radiologists, mammographers and up-to-date equipment. It stands as the sole facility in South Africa to hold Breast Imaging Center of Excellence status from the American College of Radiology (ACR).

Why the centre recommends screening every year from 40

Views on the right age to begin screening vary, yet MAMI leans on the agreement reached across many studies that yearly mammography starting at 40 saves the greatest number of lives. Breast cancer peaks between the ages of 55 and 60, but the clinic is seeing more cases in younger women, and tumours in younger patients tend to be aggressive and fast-moving. Beginning at 40 is designed to detect as many cancers as possible within the at-risk population.

The reason yearly imaging beats a two or three year gap is that certain aggressive tumours can enlarge considerably over twelve months. Yearly scans also allow radiologists to set one year’s images against the previous year’s and spot even faint shifts in breast tissue. MAMI notes that the majority of breast cancers are now detected while still under 2cm, in large part because of mammograms and ultrasound, and that those patients enjoy a five-year survival rate of 90%.

What a modern mammogram involves

Many women delay a Mammogram based on memories or stories about machines of the past. MAMI works with 3D mammogram units that use tomosynthesis to capture a detailed image while applying only minimal compression. The clinic calls today’s mammograms painless and very quick, meaning any discomfort lasts only moments. Radiation exposure is extremely low and regarded as safe even for annual scans, and the gentler compression poses no threat to breast tissue or implants.

MAMI also tackles a frequent concern head on: mammograms do not trigger thyroid cancer, and a thyroid shield serves no purpose and can interfere with image quality.

Expense is a further cause of delay. The clinic points out that most medical aids cover screening through screening benefits instead of medical savings, even on an entry-level hospital plan. Patients are welcome to phone in with their medical aid number to check their cover, or to request a cash quote.

Know the changes that need attention

Yearly screening is at its most effective when paired with knowing how your breasts usually look and feel. MAMI identifies a lump as the most telling symptom of breast cancer, frequently resembling a pea, stone or marble beneath the skin. Any new lump warrants an immediate mammogram and/or ultrasound, even though most lumps prove to be benign growths, cysts or ordinary lumpy tissue.

Further warning signs that should always be investigated with imaging take in skin that thickens or dimples like orange peel, fresh asymmetry where one breast rides higher or shows a dent, bloody or clear discharge from the nipple (particularly when it appears unprompted), a nipple that has lately turned inwards, and a flaking, dry rash on the nipple or areola.

The clinic regards a monthly Breast Examination at home as a hugely useful habit, though plenty of women struggle with it because their breasts are naturally lumpy. MAMI’s counsel is not to worry over that: stay on top of the annual imaging and consult a gynaecologist or GP, who will also carry out a manual check.

Higher risk and what comes next

A family history of breast or ovarian cancer ranks among the leading risk factors, alongside carrying extra weight after menopause, using particular hormone replacement therapies and never having given birth. Women in the high-risk category may require more thorough screening, such as an annual MRI, or genetic testing, and are urged to talk through their screening choices with their doctor.

Should imaging turn up something warranting a closer look, MAMI carries out breast biopsies guided by ultrasound or stereotactic imaging. These biopsies are minimally invasive, performed under local anaesthetic and generally lasting 20 to 30 minutes, with the patient free to head home afterward. They either rule cancer out, bringing reassurance, or confirm it and pinpoint the type so treatment can be mapped out.

The unit forms part of a multidisciplinary breast cancer team made up of breast surgeons, reconstructive surgeons, oncologists, pathologists and radiologists. Anyone diagnosed at MAMI is sent straight to this team, and the clinic goes on to help with staging, localisation, chemotherapy monitoring and follow-up. MAMI is likewise the only practice to offer breast cancer cryoablation, a technique that freezes selected small tumours as an option in place of surgery.

Accreditation behind the service

MAMI represents the new identity of the Parklane Women’s Imaging Centre, retaining the same staff, equipment and radiologists in a fresh department at Melrose Arch. The Parklane breast unit was Africa’s first internationally accredited breast imaging unit and the first and only department in South Africa to earn the ACR gold seal, granted for mammography in 2017, MRI in 2018, stereotactic biopsy in 2020 and breast ultrasound in 2021. The ACR named the department a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence in 2022.

At the helm is diagnostic radiologist and managing director Dr Peter Schoub, who has concentrated on breast radiology for over 15 years, holds the European Diploma of Breast Imaging and serves as an honorary lecturer in the department of radiology at the University of the Witwatersrand.

For women across Johannesburg, Breast Cancer Awareness Month offers a well-timed nudge to book Mammograms for themselves and to prompt mothers, sisters and friends to follow suit. Appointments can be arranged by phone, email or via the centre’s online booking form, with further details available at https://mammogram.co.za/.

About MAMI (Melrose Arch Mammography)

MAMI (Melrose Arch Mammography Inc.) is a breast imaging centre located at 1st Floor, 10 Melrose Boulevard, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg. Its services span 3D mammography, breast ultrasound, ultrasound and stereotactic guided breast biopsies and breast cancer cryoablation, together with bone density and body composition scans. The breast unit carries American College of Radiology accreditation for mammography, MRI, stereotactic biopsy and breast ultrasound, and has earned the designation of Breast Imaging Center of Excellence. It operates within a multidisciplinary breast cancer team and is led by diagnostic radiologist Dr Peter Schoub.

Media Contact
MAMI (Melrose Arch Mammography)
Email: info@melrosemammo.co.za
Phone: +27 11 484 3149
Website: https://mammogram.co.za/