BREAST CANCER DETECTION
ANCHOR LEAD: WHICH IMAGING TECHNIQUE IS BEST FOR FINDING BREAST CANCER? ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS
Mammography is well established as an effective screening tool for breast cancer, but would detection be improved if ultrasound is also added? Wendie Berg, a radiologist at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues around the country attempted to answer that question in a recent study. Berg describes the findings.
BERG: We had 2637 women all together who not only enrolled but completed 12 months of follow up. Among those 40 women were diagnosed with cancer by the end of a year. We found half of those with mammography, another 12 cancers were found on ultrasound only, so all together, with ultrasound and mammography we found 78 percent of the cancers, which was a significant improvement. The cancers we found with ultrasound were by and large very small. The vast majority had not yet spread to the lymph nodes. :32
Berg says the results need to be confirmed in a larger study before routine ultrasound can be recommended. I’m Elizabeth Tracey reporting.