A new study reveals the benefits of 3D mammograms over 2D mammograms, reports Ronnie Cohen for NPR. With a 3D mammogram, digital breast tomosynthesis, you are less likely to be asked to come back for additional testing. The 3D machine also appears to detect some cancers sooner.
The study by Liane Philpotts, MD, published in the journal, Radiology, found fewer misdiagnoses from the 3D imaging. She sees it as a “win, win, win.”
With 3D imaging–DBT machines–providers are able to see many more layers and angles of the breast. Radiologists can look at each layer of tissue. For people with dense breasts, the technology is of particular benefit.
To be clear, this study does not answer with certainty the question as to whether 3D imaging detects breast cancers earlier than 2D imaging or is more likely to save lives. The 3D imaging is more expensive, so how much value it adds is important to understand.
It will take another six or so years before we know for sure the value of DBT. That’s when a large clinical trial will end that actually studies and compares 3D and 2D technology. For now, there is only “indirect evidence suggesting the potential of DBT screening in improving survival outcomes.”
3D imaging has only been in use since 2011, when the Food and Drug Administration first approved it. Already, though, more than nine in ten facilities that do mammography have one or more DBT machines. Almost half of all machines are DBT.
The study looked at more than 250,000 screenings to determine the breast cancer cases found with screening mammograms over the course of 13 years. Over the last ten years, it looked at 3D screenings.
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