Digital Mammography Delivers Significantly Less Radiation than Conventional Mammography

Data from one of the largest mammography trials in history demonstrates that overall the radiation dose associated with digital mammography is significantly lower (averaging 22 percent lower) than that of conventional film mammography and that the reduction could be greater in women with larger and denser breasts, according to a study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

“The ability to reduce the radiation dose for many women is another step forward for breast cancer screening with mammography — which saves thousands of lives each year,” said R. Edward Hendrick, PhD, lead author of the study.

The American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST) published in 2005, enrolled 49,528 women and found that digital mammography detected significantly (up to 28 percent) more cancers than film mammography in women younger than 50 years of age, premenopausal and preimenopausal women, and women with dense breasts.

In this latest DMIST study, published in AJR, technical data from 5,102 DMIST participants were evaluated, demonstrating that the dose received by women imaged with digital mammography was significantly lower than that received by the same women imaged with standard film mammography.

“The average breast radiation dose per view was 2.37 mGy for film mammography and 1.86 mGy for digital (22 percent lower for digital than film mammography),” said Hendrick.


source: ARRS

Breast Cancer Screening Should Begin at Age 40, New Recommendations Suggest

ScienceDaily (Jan. 5, 2010) — The new recommendations from the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI) and the American College of Radiology (ACR) on breast cancer screening, published in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR), state that breast cancer screening should begin at age 40 and earlier in high-risk patients. The recommendations also suggest appropriate utilization of medical imaging modalities such as mammography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound for breast cancer screening.

"The significant decrease in breast cancer mortality, which amounts to nearly 30 percent since 1990, is a major medical success and is due largely to earlier detection of breast cancer through mammography screening," said Carol H. Lee, MD. "For women with the highest risk of developing breast cancer, screening technologies in addition to mammography have been adopted," said Lee.

source: Science Daily Release

Baylor Adds Naviscan PEM Technology to Women’s Imaging Center

The Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas has taken delivery of the Naviscan PEM scanner at its Darlene G. Cass Women’s Imaging Center. Baylor will use PEM (positron emission mammography) to complement their existing anatomical tools by providing a three-dimensional metabolic perspective of breast cancer. The metabolic view allows physicians to make cancer care decisions by providing an improved ability to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions in what researchers call “specificity.” A recent multi-center NIH-sponsored study comparing PEM and MRI highlighted that PEM had improved specificity relative to MRI at comparable sensitivity, what researchers use to describe the ability to see lesions.

The Darlene G. Cass Women’s Imaging Center has been providing breast imaging services in the Dallas area for more than 20 years, performing more than 50,000 breast imaging procedures annually. The center also performs mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy, breast ultrasound, and ultrasound-guided breast biopsy.

source: NEMA