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.

Researchers discover molecules that differentiate early-stage breast tumors from invasive cancer

Researchers have discovered a restricted pattern of molecules that differentiate early-stage breast tumors from invasive, life-threatening cancer. They also found a similar molecular signature that correlated with the aggressiveness of invasive tumors, and with the time to metastasis and overall survival.

8 Feb 2012

VuCOMP receives PMA for M-Vu CAD system

VuCOMP, Inc., developer of computer-aided detection (CAD) systems for automatic analysis of medical imagery, is pleased to announce premarket approval (PMA) of M-Vu, a cutting-edge CAD system for film mammography.

3 Feb 2012

Majority of women fail to follow recommended MRI breast screening

A study of 64,659 women, recently published in the journal Academic Radiology, found that while 1,246 of these women were at high enough breast cancer risk to recommend additional screening with MRI, only 173 of these women returned to the clinic within a year for the additional screening.

1 Feb 2012

Capital Health installs GE Discovery NM 750b scanner at N.J. Hopewell medical center

Capital Health and GE Healthcare announced today the first Discovery NM 750b was installed at Capital Health's New Jersey Hopewell medical center. Capital Health is a central New Jersey region leader in advanced medicine, with significant investments in advanced technologies and its medical staff.

31 Jan 2012

Hologic first quarter revenues increase 9.3% to $472.7 million

Hologic, Inc., a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of premium diagnostics products, medical imaging systems and surgical products dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of women, today announced its results for the first fiscal quarter ended December 24, 2011.

From Hologic, Inc. 31 Jan 2012

Fewer getting screened for common cancers: CDC report

According to federal health officials last Thursday, the number of Americans being screened for colon, breast and cervical cancers still fall below national targets.

30 Jan 2012

UCSD receives approval to acquire NVCI

UC San Diego Health System has received approval to acquire the Nevada Cancer Institute (NVCI), the official cancer institute of the state of Nevada, as an affiliate health care provider. The expansion represents a partnership between California and Nevada in offering lifesaving cancer care to patients through expert diagnosis, novel treatments and clinical trials.

24 Jan 2012

Nashville General Hospital at Meharry, Sectra announce multi-year agreement

Sectra announces its multi-year agreement with Nashville General Hospital at Meharry. Sectra's suite of web-based, integrated RIS/PACS solutions for radiology, breast imaging and orthopaedics will enable the hospital to automate workflow, speed image distribution and report turnaround to improve its service level to referring physicians and increase referring volume.

17 Jan 2012

Obesity linked to higher rates of prostrate cancer screening across race/ethnicity and gender

Researchers in Family and Community Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University recently found that obesity was linked to higher rates of prostate cancer screening across all races/ethnic differences and lower rates of cervical cancer screening, most notably in white women.

10 Jan 2012

Cancer death rates declining - still room for improvement: Report

According to a new report from the American Cancer Society, fewer Americans are dying of cancer. The society's annual report on cancer statistics showed that cancer death rates have fallen nearly two percent for both men and women over the past five years. However experts warn that people still need to cut down their cancer risk.

5 Jan 2012

iCAD enters $15M debt facility agreement with Deerfield Management

iCAD, Inc., an industry-leading provider of advanced image analysis, workflow solutions and radiation therapy for the early identification and treatment of cancer, today announced that it has entered into a five year, $15 million debt facility agreement with Deerfield Management Company LP, a leading healthcare investment fund.

3 Jan 2012

CHEST Foundation awards $100,000 for development of blood test for lung cancer

Lung cancer takes a heavy toll, contributing to more cancer deaths in the United States each year than breast, prostate and colon cancers combined. Contributing to this poor prognosis is the fact that lung cancer often goes undetected until the disease has reached an advanced and more difficult-to-treat stage.

31 Dec 2011

Mammography appears to detect women with low-risk breast cancer

As a woman ages, her chances of being diagnosed with a lower-risk breast tumor increase, according to a novel study led by UCSF which found that for women over 50, a substantial number of cancers detected by mammograms have good prognoses.

20 Dec 2011

SonoCiné AWBU effective in detecting small cancers not detectable with mammography

SonoCiné, Inc., the leading innovator of Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound (AWBU) screening systems for early detection of breast cancer announced today the publication of two important scientific papers reporting on the effectiveness of SonoCiné AWBU in detecting small cancers not detectable with digital mammography.

20 Dec 2011

Hologic receives FDA approval for Cervista HTA system to detect cervical cancer

Hologic, Inc., a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of premium diagnostic products, medical imaging systems and surgical products dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of women, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its Cervista HTA (high throughput automation) system for use with the Company's previously approved Cervista human papillomavirus (HPV) HR test.

From Hologic, Inc. 16 Dec 2011

Book on hot health topics

The intersection of health care, politics and policy is a controversial one. A new book of lively essays takes on all of today's hot health topics: alternative medicine, swine flu, health care reform, screening mammograms, taxes to decrease soda consumption, gun control and many more.

13 Dec 2011

Risk of breast cancer in the genetically predisposed

A new study showed that women who have been successfully treated for cancer in one breast and who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 cancer gene are at increased risk for developing cancer in their other breast.

12 Dec 2011

HCI earns NCI's Center for Quantitative Imaging Excellence certification

Precise, accurate imaging—think mammography, CT and MRI scans—is important to cancer screening, treatment, and follow-up care. Now, even more advanced technology is emerging, and with it, the need for imaging specialists with the expertise to use them.

9 Dec 2011

Breast cancer risks and management updates

A new report that looks at the environmental factors that affect risk of breast cancer is out. It suggests that women can reduce their risk by avoiding unnecessary medical radiation, forgoing hormone treatments for menopause that combine estrogen and progestin, limiting alcohol intake and minimizing weight gain.

8 Dec 2011

Study contradicts premise of framing effect on making health decisions

The behavior of consumers who are faced with making decisions about their health is not significantly influenced by the way health messages are worded or framed, according to a large, new study by researchers at the University at Buffalo and other institutions.

8 Dec 2011