Aunt Minnie (8/8) reports the FDA approved computer-aided detection developer iCAD’s latest version of its PowerLook Density Assessment artificial intelligence software. The article explains that the software “is designed for automated and reproducible assessments of breast density to identify patients with dense breast tissue and subsequent reduced sensitivity to digital mammography.”

The Radiology Business Journal (8/8, Walter) reports a new study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that many women are “skeptical about the concept of undergoing risk-based breast cancer screening.” Researchers said that in order to get more women “to feel comfortable” with mammographic screening, “communication from healthcare providers will need to significantly improve.”

Aunt Minnie (8/8, Yee) reports that according to a study published online August 1 in the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, “ultrasound using a shear-wave elastography (SWE) technique can help clinicians determine whether biopsy-confirmed ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) should be upgraded to invasive ductal carcinoma.” The group found that “higher BI-RADS assessment categories and nuclear grades correlated with a lesion’s invasiveness (p = 0.015 and p = 0.005).” The researchers concluded, “The BI-RADS category based on ultrasound findings, maximum stiffness value on shear-wave elastography, and nuclear grade of DCIS are predictive of invasive components in DCIS.”

The Radiology Business Journal (8/7, Walter) reports a study published in Radiotherapy and Oncology found that “early-stage breast cancer survivors treated with whole breast irradiation (WBI) are at a greater risk of developing a secondary cancer than patients treated with accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI).” Nienke Hoekstra of Erasmus MC Cancer Centre in Rotterdam, Netherlands, wrote, “The use of APBI could eventually halve the lifetime secondary cancer risk.”

HealthImaging (8/7, O'Connor) reports Dutch researchers “utilized a PET tracer to distinguish differences in estrogen receptor (ER) expression in metastatic breast cancer patients” and their findings “may enhance treatment for these patients.” Geke A.P. Hospers, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the University of Groningen, said, “The results showed that approximately 50 percent of the patients had one or more estrogen-receptor negative lesions, while the primary tumor was estrogen-receptor positive.” The study was published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.