3D DBT Mammography Screening Increases Cancer Detection and Reduces Callbacks over the Long Term

A recent study has shown that using 3D mammography/DBT for initial and subsequent breast cancer screening improves cancer detection, and reduces the need to call back patients for additional imaging for a period of up to three years.

The researchers analyzed 44,468 mammography exams of 23,958 women screened with no history of breast cancer. The women initially underwent only Digital Mammography (DM). In the following consecutive three years all women underwent DBT exams of two-view DM, and two-view Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) of each breast.

The research was carried out by scientists at the Perelman School of Medicine (PENN Medicine; Philadelphia, PA, USA), at the University of Pennsylvania, and was published online on February, 18, 2016, in the journal JAMA Oncology. During their analysis of the data, the researchers compared differences in screening results between every year a DBT mammography screening was carried out and the DM baseline year, and between women that had a history of only one, two, or three DBT screenings. The study was the first to provide longitudinal evidence that for women with a healthy negative reading the benefits of initial DBT screening can be maintained, and improved with consecutive DBT screenings.

Senior author of the study, Emily F. Conant, MD, chief of Breast Imaging, department of Radiology, PENN Medicine, said, “These findings reaffirm that 3D mammography is a better mammogram for breast cancer screening. These results are an important step toward informing policies so that all women can receive 3D mammography for screening.”

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Perelman School of Medicine