Nipple Aspiration = Not Good Enough

We are always hoping and striving for better forms of diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Thoughts of more accurate, less stressful ways of finding breast cancer fill us with hope. In an instance of “latest is NOT always greatest” – nipple aspiration.

Nipple aspiration is an attempt at diagnosing breast cancer through the analysis of fluid collected from the breasts with a breast pump device and is currently being marketed to women. However, the FDA recently issued an important statement: the Nipple Aspirate Test is no Substitute for Mammograms.

The concern is the claims that the test can be a stand-alone way to find breast cancer, potentially luring some women into thinking they no longer need a mammogram.

While analysis of nipple aspirate is undergoing research as an additional means of evaluation in some women, these non-FDA approved devices are being marketed as a replacement for a mammogram in finding breast cancer – something that has NOT been proven in research studies to date.

While the temptation to find an alternative to mammograms may be strong for some, rest assured: it is a proven method, successful in screening for breast cancer and in reducing deaths from breast cancer. We want you to be in the know and on your way to your best possible health.

Image credit: Nipple Aspirators use for Breast Cancer Diagnosis by DES Daughter (via Flickr) Copyright Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Originally published 12/23/13 on mammographykc.com.