iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A new study indicates that the addition of a newer test, tomosynthesis, to a routine mammogram may increase a patient’s breast cancer detection rate and reduce the number of patients recalled for a second examination.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at data from over 450,000 examinations, 29,726 patients who received just a digital mammography and 15,541 patients who received the mammography with tomosynthesis. In the added test, the machine moves around the breast to take X-rays from many angles, creating a three-dimensional image of the breast. The test was approved in the United States in 2011.
The study found that cancer was found in 4.2 of every 1,000 screenings using just a digital mammography, but 5.4 of every 1,000 scans that included tomosynthesis. The tomosynthesis screening also reduced the number of patients who were recalled for follow-up exams.
Still, researchers say, further studies are needed to assess the relationship between the outcome of this study and the benefits of tomosynthesis.
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