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Breast screening: The new high-tech, simpler approach

By Guest PostNovember 5, 2013Health2d mammography, 2d synthetic mammography, 3d data, 3d mammography, 3d screening, assessment, breast center, breast screening, diagnostic radiologist, high tech, journal radiology, liane philpotts, lumpectomy, mammography, radiologist

In two years, 3D screening has picked up more early cancers than mammography while cutting down on the number of callbacks. One radiologist calls it “a game changer.”

October 2013) No woman wants to get a call that her radiologist has found a suspicious image on her mammogram, and then learn that she might need a biopsy—only to find out it was all a false alarm. Now, thanks to new technology, fewer women will get those calls.

Digital breast tomosynthesis, or 3-D mammography, is transforming breast screening by significantly reducing callbacks while picking up more cancers, and eliminating some of the fear and anxiety many women experience. All women who visit the Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven for mammography are now getting tomosynthesis over plain 2D mammography, says Liane Philpotts, MD, chief of breast imaging for the Breast Center. (more…)

Costly Breast Cancer Screenings Don’t Add up to Better Outcomes

By Guest PostJanuary 22, 2013Healthanees chagpar, breast cancer, breast cancer incidence, brigid killelea, cary gross, copper team, cost of screening, geographic regions, heather gold, jama network publication, jessica long, joseph ross, mammography, maysa abu khalaf, medicine, rong wang, screenings, treatment, united states, variation, xiaomei ma, yale cancer center, yale school

Even though Medicare spends over $1 billion per year on breast cancer screenings such as a mammography, there is no evidence that higher spending benefits older women, researchers at Yale School of Medicine found in a study published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

Led by Dr. Cary Gross, associate professor of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine and director of the Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy, and Effectiveness Research (COPPER) Center at Yale, the study sought to provide a comprehensive understanding of breast cancer expenditures that incorporate the cost of screening and associated work-up, as well as treatment. They assessed overall national costs, as well as variation in costs across geographic regions. (more…)

Breakthrough Technique Images Breast Tumors in 3-D with Great Clarity, Reduced Radiation

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2012Health, Science3d picture, alberto mittone, aniko sztrokay, blind evaluation, bone, breakthrough, breast cancer, breast tissue, computing algorithm, ct scanner, digital, dual view, equally sloped tomography, est, european, european colleague, france, Germany, image, jianwei miao, ludwig maximilians university, mammogram, mammography, maximilian reiser, oscillation, paola coan, patient, paul claude diemoz, radiation, radiation facility, researcher, scientist, screening, sergei gasilov, susanne liebhardt, synchrotron, technique, three-dimensional, tomography, tumor, ucla, united states, xray, yunzhe zhao, zhifeng huang

Like cleaning the lenses of a foggy pair of glasses, scientists are now able to use a technique developed by UCLA researchers and their European colleagues to produce three-dimensional images of breast tissue that are two to three times sharper than those made using current CT scanners at hospitals. The technique also uses a lower dose of X-ray radiation than a mammogram.

These higher-quality images could allow breast tumors to be detected earlier and with much greater accuracy. One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime.

The research is published the week of Oct. 22 in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

UF Researchers Find Surgical Breast Biopsies Overused in Florida

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2011Healthbiopsy techniques, breast biopsies, david Winchester, diagnose, florida, health risks, huazhi liu, lesion, luke gutwein, mammography, needle biopsy, open surgical biopsy, patients, stephen grobmyer, surgical breast biopsies, tissue samples, women

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Thousands of women receive unnecessary surgical breast biopsies in Florida each year, University of Florida researchers state in an article published online this week by the American Journal of Surgery.

These surgeries carry greater health risks and are more expensive than a less invasive, equally effective procedure called a needle biopsy. (more…)

Tag Archives: mammography

Breast screening: The new high-tech, simpler approach

Costly Breast Cancer Screenings Don’t Add up to Better Outcomes

Breakthrough Technique Images Breast Tumors in 3-D with Great Clarity, Reduced Radiation

UF Researchers Find Surgical Breast Biopsies Overused in Florida