Double Take for 3-D Breast Screening

(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Great strides have been made in the discovery and treatment and breast cancer, one of which is 3-D breast screening that can catch signs of cancer early on. While it is standard in the United States to take both craniocaudal and mediolateral oblique views in the screening, some places in Europe have opted for a single view to reduce the radiation dose and time of compression. However, a recent Yale University study finds two views are better than one when it comes to 3-D breast screening.
“Obtaining both views is necessary to ensure that a cancer will be optimally visualized,” lead study author Dr. Noa Beck was quoted as saying.
For the study seven breast imagers examined the results from 3-D breast screening of 164 cancers; both views were used. Although 56% of the cancers could be seen in the mediolateral as well as the craniocaudal view, 34% could only be seen or were seen better in the craniocaudal view.
So practices only using the mediolateral view of 3-D breast screening could potentially miss present cancer and the patient would lose valuable treatment time. The same can be said for using only the craniocaudal view.
“In a few cases, lesions were only seen on the MLO view because of where the cancers were located in the breast,” Dr. Beck was quoted as saying.
SOURCE: Presentation at American Roentgen Ray Society Annual Meeting, April 2013