Peace of mind with no line: UPMC Altoona holds walk-in mammogram event

Bonnie Sanders wasn't worried, but she was taking precautions nonetheless.

Sanders, 82, was among a couple dozen people who came to the Station Medical Center Monday morning for UPMC Altoona's once-a-year walk-in mammography screening for women who are due for their annual mammogram, don't already have an appointment and wish to take advantage of the convenience of not having to make one.

Sanders feels good -- good enough to have spent an hour earlier in the morning in Zumba class -- but she was happy to have the test, she said.

In contrast to Sanders, Stephanie Watson, 57, was worried.

She had breast cancer in 2020, which led to two surgeries, about seven weeks of radiation therapy and a five-year regimen of Tamoxifen, an oral medication to treat and prevent a certain type of breast cancer.

She's been cancer-free, but gets nervous every time she comes for her annual screening, she said.

"It's always in the back of your mind when you have it once," she said.

Monday's walk-in was the eighth such event for UPMC Altoona, according to mammography supervisor Christin Ross.

Most of the images are read within five days, Ross said.

They're read by a radiologist, who compares them to prior images for each patient, if those images exist.

Ten to 16 percent of women who get mammograms typically get a call back for an additional check, Ross said.

Of the total number initially receiving mammograms, approximately 0.5% end up with breast cancer, she said.

When diagnosed at an early, localized stage, breast cancer is survived for the following five years by more than 99% of women, according to a chart posted at the event reception table.

Sixty-six percent of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at that early, localized stage, where the disease is easier to treat than at later stages, according to the poster.

Nevertheless, more than 42,000 women in the U.S. are expected to die this year from breast cancer, according to the poster.

Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-381-3152.