Breast Cancer Patients May Report Reduced Sensitivity And Pain During Radiotherapy While Using Barrier Film, Study Suggests.

The Radiology Business Journal (6/21, Slachta) reports researchers found that breast cancer patients reported “reduced sensitivity and pain during radiotherapy when using a barrier film over treatment areas.” The findings were published in Technical Innovations and Patient Support in Radiation Oncology.

Three-Quarters Of Breast Imaging Facilities Do Not Have Explicit Policies For Transgender Patients, Study Suggests.

HealthImaging (6/21, Rohman) reports researchers found around 75% “of breast imaging facilities in the U.S. do not have explicit policies for transgender patients and do not offer nondiscrimination training to appropriately care for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) patients.” The findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

The Radiology Business Journal (6/21, Walter) reports the researchers wrote, “Overall, structural policies were weak in the realm of transgender care. Few facilities offered any sort of LGBT training for their faculty and staff, and only a third of such available training was mandatory. Most facilities did not have any explicit policies for transgender care, nor any explicit nondiscrimination policies for transgender employees.” Aunt Minnie (6/22) also covers the story.

AI Augments Diagnostic Performance When Interpreting Breast Ultrasound Exams, Research Suggests.

Aunt Minnie (6/21, Ridley) reports that according to research presented at the recent Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) annual meeting, “radiologists make the most of artificial intelligence (AI) software in breast ultrasound” by “using the software concurrently during the interpretation process.” Researchers “found that three radiologists produced significantly higher diagnostic performance when interpreting breast ultrasound exams concurrently with AI software than they achieved without the aid of the software,” but that wasn’t the case “when the radiologists only viewed the software’s analysis after providing an initial diagnosis.”

New ACR/SBI Guidelines Recommend All Women Be Evaluated For Breast Cancer Risk By Age 30.

Health (6/18, Klein) reports that updated American College of Radiology and Society of Breast Imaging guidelines “published earlier this year in the Journal of the American College of Radiology addressing breast cancer screening recommendations for high-risk women” suggests that “all women” should be “evaluated for breast cancer risk by age 30.” The JACR article’s authors wrote, “All women, especially black women and those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, should be evaluated for breast cancer risk no later than age 30, so that those at higher risk can be identified and can benefit from supplemental screening.” This “urging, says lead author Debra Monticciolo, MD…stems from the fact that certain high-risk women could benefit from either earlier or different types of screening – or both.”

Synthesized 2D Mammography Works Well For Density Assessment, Study Indicates.

Aunt Minnie (6/14, Yee) reports that according to a study published online June 12 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology, “breast density assessments rendered by radiologists from synthesized 2D digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) exams are comparable to those rendered from standard 2D mammography images.” Citing Dr. Irfanullah Haider of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the article says the finding “suggests that synthesized 2D images could replace standard 2D mammography, which is good news as more women seek additional imaging because they have dense breast tissue.”