Discover Why This Mammogram is More Effective for Women with Dense Breasts
In recent years, there has been a growing concern among women with dense breast tissue about the effectiveness of traditional mammograms in detecting breast cancer. Dense breast tissue can make it more difficult to detect abnormalities on a mammogram, leading to missed or delayed diagnoses. However, a new study has found that contrast-enhanced mammography may be a more effective screening tool for women with dense breasts.
Contrast-enhanced mammography, also known as contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM), is a relatively new imaging technique that combines traditional mammography with the use of a contrast agent. The contrast agent highlights areas of abnormal blood flow in the breast, making it easier to detect tumors and other abnormalities that may be missed on a traditional mammogram.
A recent study published in the journal Radiology found that contrast-enhanced mammography identified three times as many tumors in women with dense breasts compared to ultrasound scans. The study, which included over 1,000 women with dense breast tissue, found that CESM detected 42 additional tumors that were not seen on ultrasound scans.
Despite these promising results, contrast-enhanced mammography is not widely used for screening in the United States. Currently, only a handful of medical centers offer CESM as part of their breast cancer screening program. This is due in part to the fact that CESM is not yet covered by insurance and can be more expensive than traditional mammography or ultrasound.
However, experts believe that the benefits of contrast-enhanced mammography for women with dense breasts outweigh the costs. Dr. Sarah Friedewald, lead author of the study and director of breast imaging at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, stated, “We found that CESM is a very promising tool for breast cancer screening in women with dense breasts. It has the potential to significantly improve our ability to detect breast cancer at an early stage when it is most treatable.”
In addition to its effectiveness in detecting tumors in women with dense breasts, contrast-enhanced mammography has other advantages as well. Unlike MRI, which is another imaging technique used for women with dense breasts, CESM does not require the use of contrast agents that can cause allergic reactions in some patients. CESM also provides high-quality images with a lower radiation dose than traditional mammography.
Despite these benefits, more research is needed to determine the long-term effectiveness of contrast-enhanced mammography for breast cancer screening. Some experts are calling for larger studies to confirm the findings of the recent study and to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of CESM compared to other screening methods.
In conclusion, contrast-enhanced mammography shows great promise as a more effective screening tool for women with dense breasts. Its ability to detect three times as many tumors as ultrasound scans makes it a valuable addition to the arsenal of imaging techniques used for breast cancer screening. As more research is conducted and the technology becomes more widely available, CESM has the potential to revolutionize the way breast cancer is detected and treated. The question remains: why isn’t contrast-enhanced mammography more widely used for screening in the United States?