Women today are increasingly delaying childbirth into their 30s and 40s. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) says that 18.3 percent of births were to mothers of advanced maternal age (35 and over) in 2018. The New York Times reports that first-time mothers are older in big cities and on the coasts, including in the Bay Area where the average age hovers around 31. This trend in delayed childbirth means that more women are lactating into their 30s and 40s, when mammography would typically be the initial imaging modality to evaluate palpable masses in the general population. A palpable breast mass is the most common manifesting symptom of breast cancer.
Breast imaging during pregnancy and lactation is already challenging due to both physiologic and structural changes to the breast. In addition, the American College of Radiology (ACR) reports that…
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