Breast Tomosynthesis May Best Digital Mammography for Detection, Prognosis

By Marilynn Larkin

March 06, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Three-D digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is associated with

a better ability to correctly identify breast cancer in women ages 40-74 than 2D digital

mammography (DM), researchers say.

"We found that the cancers detected by DBT tended to be smaller, node-negative and have

biologies associated with a better prognosis compared to those found by 2D-alone

screening," Dr. Emily Conant of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia told Reuters

Health.

"We also found that the number of false-positive recalls decreased for all women screened

with DBT compared with 2D mammography," she said by email. "Therefore, we believe that

DBT screening has a very favorable risk-benefit ratio, especially in the very controversial

group of younger women, aged 40-49 years."

"Since its approval by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2011, DBT has been rapidly

adopted in the US; however, not all practices offer DBT yet," she noted. "One of the reasons

is increased cost, as the equipment is more expensive and the exams require more time to

interpret than conventional 2D DM. Also, insurance coverage for DBT across the country is

variable."

Mahdi Rafati