Computer-Aided Mammography Finds More Cancer, More False Positives

Computer programs designed to help radiologists could identify more cases of breast cancer, but they might also increase the number of false positive results, which can lead to biopsies in healthy women, according to a recent systematic review.

Using computer-aided detection (CAD) mammography, “you do catch some cases that would have been missed if the mammogram had been read only by a single radiologist,” said review author Meredith Noble, a research analyst at ECRI Institute.
Amy Sutton

Typically, a radiologist examines a woman’s screening mammogram to check for signs of cancer. When using CAD with mammography, the radiologist still reads the mammogram, but a computer program also evaluates the mammogram and marks suspicious areas for the radiologist to review further.

Investigators led by Noble synthesized data from seven previously published studies of CAD mammography’s use in 392,015 healthy women with no lumps or other symptoms of breast cancer.

The current report, released this month, is an update of an earlier review also published by ECRI Institute, a nonprofit health services research agency that produces systematic evidence reviews on medical devices, drugs, biotechnologies and procedures.

source: Health Behavior News