New FDA-approved 3-D mammography devices may add extra dimension to breast cancer detection

There’s good news for women worried about their annual mammogram — the FDA has just approved a new 3-D mammography device that may help doctors more accurately detect breast cancer. Developed by Hologic Inc., the new system was shown in two clinical trials to improve tumor detection by seven percent when compared to standard 2-D imaging. Two-dimensional pictures cannot always resolve the appearance of overlapping skin. This either obscures tumors or it produces a false appearance of breast cancer. The 3-D device is already approved in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

While a seven percent improvement percent may not seem so great, ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross observes that “200,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. each year. So, this will result in better assessment for up to 14,000 patients annually whose cancer would otherwise be hidden by 2-D screening or who would undergo costly and unnecessary follow-up procedures for a benign tumor.”