MRIs and ultrasounds are both tests that are being studied. I'm not sure where either one stands at this time. Ultrasound is easy to get and does not irradiate you, but it's very operator dependent. It takes a very skilled technician to do it competently. MRI is extremely expensive and time consuming and a lot of people can't deal with the claustrophobia of the MRI machine. Also, if you have a pacemaker or other medical hardware you may not be able to get an MRI.

When I was in medical school in the last 70s to early 80s I was taught the incidence of breast cancer was one in 12 women. Now it's about one in 8. That's a HUGE increase. Some of it may be due to earlier detection of low level cancers that may have undergone spontaneous remission without treatment. But I believe those numbers do reflect a true increased incidence.

I've read some of the studies that look at mammograms as a screening tool, as well as self exam. None of the screening tools are great, but they're better than nothing. I'll keep getting my mammos until something better comes along.