July 14, 2014 – Tomosynthesis

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Anchor lead: Should you have a new imaging technique to screen for breast cancer? Elizabeth Tracey reports

Tomosynthesis is a new imaging technique for breast cancer screening that’s been much in the news after a study using this technique along with traditional mammography was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  Susan Harvey, director of breast imaging at Johns Hopkins, says her clinical results parallel those in the study.

Harvey: It allows us to identify more cancers, and decrease the false alarms that we have, both.  Which is a fantastic thing.  Most of the new technologies have allowed us to detect more cancers but there’s been a price, we’ve had more false positives, so more false alarms. This is the first time we’ve been able to combine both of those things. The most significant increase in cancer detection is in invasive cancers.  It’s remarkable.  In a year we’ve seen 15 cancers that were only seen on 3D.   :30

Women must be prepared to pay a bit more and receive a bit more radiation with tomosynthesis, at least for now.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.