Mammography News and Research

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A mammogram is a safe test used to look for any problems with a woman's breasts. The test uses a special, low-dose x-ray machine to take pictures of both breasts. The results are recorded on x-ray film or directly onto a computer for a radiologist to examine.

Mammograms allow the doctor to have a closer look for breast lumps and changes in breast tissue. They can show small lumps or growths that a doctor or woman may not be able to feel when doing a clinical breast exam. "Mammography" is the best screening tool that doctors have for finding breast cancer.

If a lump is found, your doctor may order other tests, such as ultrasound or a biopsy--a test where a small amount of tissue is taken from the lump and area around the lump. The tissue is sent to a lab to look for cancer or changes that may mean cancer is likely to develop. Breast lumps or growths can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer). Finding breast cancer early means that a woman has a better chance of surviving the disease. There are also more choices for treatment when breast cancer is found early.

ACR and SBI encourage women to get annual mammograms

The American College of Radiology, Society of Breast Imaging and major medical organizations experienced in breast cancer care continue to recommend that women start getting annual mammograms at age 40.

30 Sep 2015

New report finds high proportion of advanced breast cancers in Cote d'Ivoire and Republic of Congo

In one of the first studies of its kind, a new report finds a large majority of breast cancers in Cote d'Ivoire and Republic of Congo are detected only after they've become advanced. The study, by American Cancer Society researchers and the African Cancer Registry Network, appears early online in the medical journal The Breast.

18 Sep 2015

Study finds increased rates of breast cancer incidence, mortality in low and middle income countries

A new study finds breast cancer incidence and death rates are increasing in several low and middle income countries, even as death rates have declined in most high income countries, despite increasing or stable incidence rates.

10 Sep 2015

Penns' Abramson Cancer Center rated as 'exceptional' by NCI

The University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) has received an "exceptional" rating by the National Cancer Institute during an extensive peer-review process for its five-year competitive research support grant. The rating is the highest possible for an NCI cancer center.

9 Sep 2015

OU and Mercy receive $2.5 million grant to develop new short-term breast cancer risk prediction models

The University of Oklahoma and Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City are developing new short-term breast cancer risk prediction models that aim to help increase cancer detection of breast magnetic resonance imaging screening.

29 Aug 2015

UT System Board of Regents approves new UT Southwestern Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center

The University of Texas System Board of Regents has approved establishment of the UT Southwestern Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center at Fort Worth, made possible by an extraordinary $25 million commitment from W.A. "Tex" Moncrief Jr. The Center is UT Southwestern's first named campus outside of Dallas.

24 Aug 2015

Women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ more likely to die from breast cancer

Women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are twice as likely to die from breast cancer compared to the general U.S. population, according to a new study led by Dr. Steven Narod.

21 Aug 2015

Researchers refine breast cancer risk model to give more accurate assessment

A national risk model that gauges a woman's chance of developing breast cancer has been refined to give a more accurate assessment. The revised figures, based on data from more than one million patients, reveal a 300 percent increase in a subset of women whose five-year risk is estimated at 3 percent or higher.

19 Aug 2015

Mayo Clinic study highlights LumaGEM MBI as cost-effective tool for detecting women with dense breast tissue

A recent study conducted by Mayo Clinic has determined that the addition of Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) for women with dense breast tissue resulted in a lower cost per cancer detected than screening with mammography alone.

17 Aug 2015

Swarm intelligence can help to improve breast cancer screening

Breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer in women and currently accounts for 29% of all new cancer cases in the U.S. Wide-ranging mammography screening programs have been set up for early diagnosis. However, even if two physicians assess the x-rays, which is the usual procedure in Europe, this often leads to wrong decisions: about 20% of patients with cancer are diagnosed as being cancer-free, whereas about 20% of cancer-free patients are diagnosed with cancer.

13 Aug 2015

BRCA gene mutations and ovarian cancer: an interview with Dr Matulonis, Harvard Medical School

The BRCA gene encodes for the BRCA proteins, BRCA1 and BRCA2. These proteins are very important in repairing DNA, which they do by correcting double-stranded breaks.

2 Aug 2015

Pantheon announces acquisition of IBSL

Pantheon Holdco Ltd., doing business as the Pantheon Healthcare Group, announced today the acquisition of Ingegneria Biomedica Santa Lucia S.p.A., a key Italian-based provider of Clinical Engineering and a large range of biomedical equipment services, from Gruppo Giglio.

30 Jul 2015

New public guide addresses unrealistic expectations of screening tests

Misconceptions about how screening works, its limitations and possible harms are still being perpetuated by media stories and high profile cases, such as Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy and emotive tabloid case studies of women under 25 dying from cervical cancer.

7 Jul 2015

Cancer Council Queensland urges women to be breast aware between scheduled screenings

Hundreds of Queensland women are developing breast cancers between screening each year, prompting a warning from Cancer Council for women to be breast aware between mammograms.

2 Jul 2015

High breast density can impact cancer screening methods

When it comes to breast cancer screening, the density of your breasts affects how well a mammogram can detect cancerous tissues. That's why Pennsylvania and 20 other states have adopted laws requiring radiologists to include information about breast density in every woman's mammogram report.

26 Jun 2015

Actavis receives FDA approval to market NATRELLE INSPIRA round gel-filled textured breast implants

Actavis plc, which recently completed the acquisition of Allergan, Inc., today announced that the company has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market NATRELLE INSPIRA round gel-filled textured breast implants, offering women undergoing reconstruction, augmentation or revision surgery another breast shaping option for a customized result.

5 Jun 2015

Researchers call for improving screening accuracy to reduce false-positive mammograms

The psychological strain of being told that you may have breast cancer may be severe, even if it turns out later to be a false alarm. This is the finding of new research from the University of Copenhagen, which has just been published in the scientific journal Annals of Family Medicine.

28 May 2015

Many U.S. adults not undergoing recommended screenings for colorectal, breast and cervical cancers

Many adults in the U.S. are not getting the recommended screening tests for colorectal, breast and cervical cancers, according to data published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. For 2013, screening for these types of cancers either fell behind previous rates or showed no improvement.

7 May 2015

Tomosynthesis detects more breast cancers compared to traditional mammography

Tomosynthesis detects 40% more breast cancers than traditional mammography does, according to a major screening study from Lund University, Sweden. This is the first large-scale study to compare the screening method with regular mammograms. The 3D X-ray technique is also more comfortable for women, as breast compression is halved.

6 May 2015

UC Davis professor awarded $2.88 million NCI grant for breast CT research and development

John M. Boone, a UC Davis medical physicist and professor of radiology, has been awarded a $2.88 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to further develop and research computed tomography (CT) to detect breast cancer.

30 Apr 2015