Mammography

This month's cover story marks a departure for us. Normally, we would feature a clinical review article, or a look at clinical or economic trends written by the magazine's staff.

Mammography screening is one of the major medical successes of the past several decades, yet this fact seems unable to break free of the doubts promulgated by such articles as Dr. Leonard Berlin's.

Breast cancer detection rates increase substantially when women at high risk and those with dense breasts undergo mammography and ultrasound annually, according to a study presented Wednesday at the 2009 RSNA meeting. MRI is an even more effective technique when used with mammography, but only for women who are at high risk for the condition.

RSNA newbie Real-Time Tomography launched at this year’s meeting a new image processing and enhancement software library for digital mammography. But the product, dubbed Adara, will not be sold to providers, at least not directly. Real-Time Tomography came to Chicago with hopes of attracting original equipment manufacturers to its library.

RSNA newbie Real-Time Tomography launched at this year’s meeting a new image processing and enhancement software library for digital mammography.

Targeted breast ultrasound is less invasive and expensive than biopsy, as well as reduces anxiety over breast cancer screening.

Using sophisticated mapping technology, census data, and state cancer registry statistics, researchers from Georgia established a link between the presence of Mammography Quality Standards Act-certified mammography centers and lower death rates from breast cancer.

MRI is the best method to assess breast cancer tumor size prior to surgery and after chemotherapy, according to findings from the American College of Radiology Imaging Network trial 6657. Size on mammography does not correlate with true residual disease in patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and thus MRI is the best modality, the researchers said.

Radiation from mammography screenings may increase the chances of developing breast cancer for women at high risk, according to findings presented Tuesday at the 2009 RSNA meeting.

Full-field digital mammography significantly increases the cancer detection rate for women younger than 50 years, according to a study presented Monday afternoon at the RSNA meeting.

Digital mammography plus MRI is the most clinically effective strategy for screening women carrying a genetic mutation known to increase the risk for breast cancer. However, unless the cost of breast MRI decreases substantially, the modality doesn’t translate as cost-effective, according to a study presented on Tuesday at the RSNA 2009 meeting.

Developing a structured and rigorous peer-review quality assurance process that involves ongoing case presentations, open discussion, and consensus opinions can help to decrease perception errors and improve the interpretive skills of breast imagers, according to radiologists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Radiologists will often not biopsy small lesions because they assume the lesions are benign. But the decision to do so could mean missing malignant cases, according to a scientific session presented Sunday at the RSNA 2009 meeting.

Fujifilm Medical Systems USA will unveil new products in computed and digital radiography, as well as digital mammography and information technology at the RSNA 2009 meeting.

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute has launched a new company to build and market a breast cancer screening device invented at the institute, one that uses ultrasound and computer algorithms to assess patients.

Powerful political sources are lining up with radiologists and mammographers against guidelines from a federal panel that scrap longstanding policies for the timing of screening mammography. Even the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is distancing itself from its panel’s recommendations in the wake of criticism from many women’s health advocates and breast cancer survivors.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has issued a recommendation against routine breast cancer screening for women ages 40 to 49 and suggests the screening interval should be changed from every year to every two years beginning at age 50. The new recommendations will result in “many needless deaths,” said a joint statement from the American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging

African American women take longer to come in for follow-up care after a suspicious breast abnormality is found, according to a study from the University of South Carolina. The problem may have more to do with economics than race, according to a physician with extensive clinical experience with this unique patient population.

X-ray imaging has provided important diagnostic information for clinical applications for almost a century.

The largest population-based study to date comparing filmscreen mammography and full-field digital mammography has found the digital approach is superior for visualizing microcalcifications deemed crucial to diagnosing ductal carcinoma in situ.

Computer-aided detection software developed especially for coronary CT angiography could boost imagers’ ability to detect clinically relevant stenosis in patients at low to moderate risk of coronary artery disease, according to researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Specialties outside of radiology could benefit from unified databases and iPhone applications.

A long-term study of breast imaging in Massachusetts has confirmed what mammographers have argued for years: older adult women who do not receive regular screening mammography are far more likely to die of breast cancer than women who routinely undergo the procedure.

Radiologists and surgeons doubt the potential value of federal legislation aimed at improved breast cancer awareness among young women and more extensive disease management for patients who undergo breast surgery.

Findings of a South Korean study suggest ultrasound is an effective way to monitor lymph node recurrence after breast cancer surgery.

The largest study to date comparing film-screen and full-field digital mammography found the digital approach better for visualizing microcalcifications deemed crucial to diagnosing ductal carcinoma in situ.

Nearly 70% of cancers found in Mexico’s first breast cancer screening program were in women younger than 60 years old, the reverse of the pattern seen in the U.S. and other developed countries.

With the goal of tailoring cancer interventions for the individual, researchers at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University have published the results of a prospective study that validates the use of a simple blood test to help doctors more reliably assess treatment effectiveness for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Ultrasound is an effective way to monitor lymph node recurrence after breast cancer surgery, South Korean researchers report.

A 40-year-old woman walked into Elizabeth Wende Breast Care in upstate New York for her yearly screening mammogram.