Aunt Minnie (10/2, Yee) reports that research indicates that “dense breast reporting laws increase women's awareness of their breast density and prompt conversations between them and their healthcare providers about supplemental screening.” The findings were published online in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. HealthImaging (10/2, Rohman) also covers the story.

(9/28) When UC San Diego Health introduced its expanded Comprehensive Breast Health Center this spring, Haydee Ojeda-Fournier, MD, medical director of breast imaging, got right to the point for the press covering the development. She emphasized that the informal reopening had doubled the capacity of an existing program and that the center now houses an integrated suite of numerous advanced-imaging technologies all under one roof.

via ImagingBiz.com

Aunt Minnie (9/26, Forrest) reports a study published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine that the hybrid modality of FDG-PET/CT achieves results in assessing breast cancer in men comparable to those in women with respect to “accurate staging of the disease.” The article adds, “PET/CT showed unsuspected distant metastases in 18% of cases, which resulted in patients being upstaged to stage IV” which was “comparable to rates among female patients with breast cancer.”

Aunt Minnie (9/25) reports the American College of Radiology “added a series of resources to MammographySavesLives.org in honor of its October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month public education campaign.” The new “resources include patient and provider education videos and informational brochures."

Author: Janice S. Sung, MD, FSBI

Mammography is the primary imaging modality used for breast cancer screening, as it is cost effective, widely available, and the only imaging modality validated by multiple randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses to reduce breast cancer mortality. The mortality reduction achieved by mammographic screening averages 30% in randomized trials, and approaches and even exceeds 40% in observational and case control studies of women actually screened (1-5). Early detection through breast cancer screening also results in less invasive and aggressive therapy (6).