MAMI Pushes Yearly Screening for Breast Cancer Awareness
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 in an annual screening. The centre keeps its message simple: have a mammogram every year once you turn 40, check yourself regularly, and get imaging done quickly if anything in the breast feels different. Now that spring is in full swing and the year is moving towards its close, women who have fallen behind on screening have a natural window to book before December arrives.
Under one roof, MAMI provides mammograms, breast ultrasound and image-guided breast biopsies, supported by seasoned radiologists, mammographers and up-to-date equipment. No other unit in South Africa has earned Breast Imaging Center of Excellence status from the American College of Radiology (ACR).
Why the centre recommends screening every year from 40
Opinions vary on the right age to begin screening, yet MAMI highlights the broad agreement across many studies that yearly mammography starting at 40 preserves the greatest number of lives. Breast cancer tends to peak between 55 and 60, but the centre is seeing more cases in younger women, and tumours in younger patients tend to be more aggressive and quick to spread. Beginning at 40 is designed to detect as many cancers as possible within the at-risk population.
Why yearly instead of every two or three years? Because certain aggressive tumours can enlarge considerably over just twelve months. Yearly imaging also gives radiologists the chance to set each year's scans against the last and spot even the faintest shifts in breast tissue. MAMI notes that the majority of breast cancers are now detected while still under 2cm, largely owing to mammograms and ultrasound, and those patients enjoy a five-year survival rate of 90%.
What a modern mammogram involves
Many women delay a Mammogram based on memories or rumours about the machines of years past. MAMI works with 3D mammogram machines using tomosynthesis, which captures a detailed scan while applying only minimal compression. The centre characterises today's mammograms as pain free and very fast, meaning any discomfort lasts only moments. The radiation involved is very 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 could compromise image quality.
Cost also keeps some women away. The centre points out that most medical aids cover screening through screening benefits instead of medical savings, even on a basic hospital plan. Patients are welcome to phone in with their medical aid number to check cover, or request a cash price.
Know the changes that need attention
Annual screening is most effective when paired with knowing how your breasts usually look and feel. MAMI calls a lump the most significant symptom of breast cancer, frequently feeling like a pea, stone or marble beneath the skin. Any new lump warrants a mammogram and/or ultrasound without delay, even though most lumps prove to be benign growths, cysts or ordinary lumpy tissue.
Further warning signs that should always be investigated with imaging include skin that thickens or dimples like orange peel, a fresh asymmetry where one breast sits higher or shows a dent, a bloody or clear nipple discharge (particularly one that occurs on its own), a nipple that has recently turned inwards, and a flaking, dry rash on the nipple or areola.
The centre regards a monthly Breast Examination at home as an extremely valuable tool, though plenty of women struggle with it because their breasts are naturally lumpy. MAMI's counsel is not to worry over that: stay consistent with yearly imaging and visit a gynaecologist or GP, who will carry out a manual examination too.
Higher risk and what comes next
A family history of breast or ovarian cancer ranks among the leading risk factors, alongside carrying excess weight after menopause, using certain hormone replacement therapies and never having had children. Women in the high-risk category may require more intensive screening, such as an annual MRI, or genetic testing, and are urged to talk through their screening choices with a doctor.
Should imaging turn up something warranting a closer inspection, MAMI carries out breast biopsies guided by ultrasound or stereotactic imaging. These biopsies are minimally invasive, performed under local anaesthetic and typically completed in 20 to 30 minutes, with the patient free to head home afterwards. They either exclude cancer, 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 spanning breast surgeons, reconstructive surgeons, oncologists, pathologists and radiologists. Anyone diagnosed at MAMI is sent straight to this team, and the centre goes on to help with staging, localisation, chemotherapy monitoring and follow-up. MAMI is also the sole practice offering breast cancer cryoablation, a therapy that freezes certain small tumours as an option other than surgery.
Accreditation behind the service
MAMI is the new identity of the Parklane Women's Imaging Centre, carrying over the same staff, equipment and radiologists into a new 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 secure ACR gold seal accreditation, granted for mammography in 2017, MRI in 2018, stereotactic biopsy in 2020 and breast ultrasound in 2021. In 2022 the ACR named the department a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence.
At the helm is diagnostic radiologist and managing director Dr Peter Schoub, whose focus on breast radiology spans more than 15 years, who holds the European Diploma of Breast Imaging and who 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 encourage mothers, sisters and friends to do likewise. 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 cover 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 holds 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/