Lourdes Medical Center is now offering 3D mammograms to help doctors detect breast cancer earlier. The machine, which came with a $395,000 price tag, arrived in late summer and patients are already seeing the benefits.

[blockquote quote="Get yourself checked and your loved ones—and don’t wait." source="Dan Ellsworth, ancillary service director at Lourdes Medical Center" align="right" max_width="300px"]

“The technology has been out for about three years, but it’s really taken off this year,” said Dan Ellsworth, ancillary service director at Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco. “The 3D image gives more information we can use. It’s saving lives.”

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 230,000 cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed this year.

Ellsworth said 3D mammograms, also known as tomosynthesis, increases breast cancer detection by 41 percent. A 2D mammogram takes images from the front and side of the breast, which may create images with overlapping breast tissue. Ellsworth said the 3D image goes 15 degrees from one side of the breast to the other, giving the doctor a better picture of the breast from different angles to find abnormalities.

“We’ve seen amazing results,” said Ellsworth. “In the first two months we started providing this service, we found four invasive breast cancers.”

Ellsworth said Lourdes has the only certified breast surgeon in the Tri-Cities — Dr. Laurie Evans — and it also has a board-certified breast reconstruction surgeon, Dr. Karen Vaniver, on staff. With a strong focus on women’s health, he said the hospital wanted to make sure it had the best breast cancer detection technology available.

Mammograms have evolved tremendously in the 14 years Ellsworth has been with Lourdes. He remembers using what was called film-screen mammography. The pictures would have to be processed and then analyzed by radiologist.

“If there was any motion at all, you had to retake the exam. It would be a week to two weeks before we got a report out of the patient,” said Ellsworth. “It was very labor intensive.”

Because 3D mammograms are relatively new, not all insurance companies will cover the costs. The patient either has to pay out of pocket or can choose not to have the 3D equipment used during their mammogram. The costs are covered for Medicare patients, said Ellsworth, adding that commercial insurance companies are slowly coming on board.

“It costs a little more, but you have to stay on top of your health,” he noted.

Roughly 40 million mammograms are performed each year in the U.S. Ellsworth said the Tri-Cities is lucky to have the 3D technology, and if a patient wants the 3D mammogram and their insurance does not cover the service, Lourdes offers a 20 percent cash discount.

Ellsworth said women over the age of 40 should be get mammograms annually, regardless of the type of mammogram. Those with a history of breast cancer should start even earlier.

“In fact, the worst cancers are for women in their 30s,” he said. “The cancer is more aggressive due to hormones and metabolism. There’s a lot of biological factors that make it more aggressive.”

Ellsworth had a high school friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer and died at the age of 16. His mother also had the disease and receives 3D mammograms from the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

“I was a big advocate for [my mom] to go. She said, ‘I have this lump’, and I said, ‘Go get it checked out and treated,’” said Ellsworth. “One of eight women will have it. We’ve had ladies come in and say, ‘I’ve had this lump for six months’, and literally it’s the size of a golf ball. By then, it’s metastasized.”

Late stage breast cancer kills about 40,000 women a year. To rein in those numbers and take insurance bills out of the equation, Lourdes Medical Center offers free mammograms four or five times a year during special events. The free mammogram days are usually announced on the hospital’s website. The last one was in October and Ellsworth said they saw more than 300 people.

With a second 3D mammogram machine arriving in February 2016, Lourdes expects to see even more patients in the coming months.

The first machine is located at the hospital, at 520 N. Fourth Ave., Pasco. The second machine will be at the company’s west Pasco location at 7425 Wrigley Dr.

“I’ve seen what cancer can do, and it motivated me to go into medicine,” said Ellsworth. “Get yourself checked and your loved ones—and don’t wait.”

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For more information about Lourdes Medical Center, go to www.lourdeshealth.net.