A new study has found that many breast cancer survivors aren't keeping up with their mammograms after their treatment has ended.

Being a breast cancer survivor herself, Laura Cuty-Ruiz knows other survivors can have some apprehension about their follow up mammogram. "It's very scary, the thought of having cancer again is overwhelming you survived it once, you took action, you took control of you life, if it happened again you can do it again if you have to."

Radiologist Mary Kay Peterson says that yearly mammograms are strongly recommended for women who have been treated for breast cancer, but surprising new research suggests that as many as two-thirds of survivors are not getting them as reported in a recent story. "As a woman's imager dedicated to this area, reading that story was hard. I don't think, at least from my personal experience here in Southwest Florida, that I'm seeing a lot of survivors stop getting their mammograms."

Dr. Peterson also says that what the study ended up saying was that greater emphasis is needed on awareness, is needed for both health care providers and breast cancer survivors on the importance of follow-up mammograms. "When you have multiple docs involved with the care and you have the team approach, it's much less likely that a woman is going to fall out of the system because one of those doctors are going to be calling her saying hey, you haven't gotten your imaging, we haven't seen you in awhile."