The benefits of digital mammograms
February 25th 2008 08:01
According to the latest research published in the journal Radiology in the U.S., digital mammography has been found to be much better than traditional film mammography at spotting breast cancers in younger women (under 50, pre- or perimenopausal) or those with dense breasts.
Dense breast tissue can make a mammogram harder to read than fatty breast tissue. And other studies have shown women with dense breast tissue - who are usually younger - have a higher risk of cancer.
The more costly digital exams (about 1.5 to 4 times more than film systems) are better at spotting breast cancers in younger women - Women in the study were considered premenopausal or perimenopausal if they had a menstrual period with 12 months of their mammograms.
Early findings from this same study of 49,528 women published in 2005 suggested that younger women and women with dense breasts would benefit, but also found the digital test was no better than traditional film-based mammography for the overall population of women.
In conclusion, the new analysis confirmed that the digital system was better for pre- and perimenopausal women under 50 years old with dense breasts.
For women over 65 with fatty breasts, film appeared to work better. For other groups, there was no significant difference between the two.
Dr. Etta Pisano of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine said: "This paper confirms that if you are, and have dense breasts, you should definitely be screened with digital rather than film," while Dr. Stamatia Destounis, a radiologist at the Elizabeth Wende Breast Clinic concurred: "If you are a young lady and you fulfill the criteria, we steer you toward digital and keep you there...patients with fatty breasts and the elderly, it's just fine to use film."
According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.2 million people will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and in Australia, it is projected that there will be 14,818 diagnosed with the illness in 2011.
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