Mammography has proven to be the best way to find breast cancer in the very early stages, before symptoms occur and when the cure rates are very high. In fact, a recent 5-year detection study involving 280,000 women showed that mammography, more than any other method, was able to find cancers before they had spread beyond the breast. Mammography uses extremely minimal levels of radiation to create an image of the breast. The procedure is performed by a specially trained technologist and is interpreted by a radiologist who will report the results to your healthcare provider.