An increasingly popular technology that uses computers to scan mammograms actually produces worse results than human reviewers using their eyes and experience, according to a new study.
Radiologists using computer-assisted detection software were more likely to interpret a benign growth as potentially cancerous, researchers said in today’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The false-positive readings led to additional scans and needless biopsies, adding $550 million to the annual cost of breast cancer screening in the United States, researchers said.
In addition, the computerized detection system, known as CAD, did not help radiologists find more real cancers, according to the report.
Dr. Ferris Hall, a radiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston who wrote an editorial accompanying the report, said some of the mistakes might have been due to inexperience with CAD. It takes radiologists several years to learn the technology, he said.
Nonetheless, Hall said, the study was a setback for the technology, which is used in 30 percent of the more than 30 million mammograms performed in the United States annually. Many imaging centers aggressively advertise their CAD services, which are potentially more profitable than standard mammography, he said. Medicare pays an additional $20 for each mammogram screened by CAD.
“This will have a major impact on radiology,” Hall said. “They were calling people back for more scans and did more biopsies; that is hurting people. And what did they get for it? No significant increase in cancer detection.”
The study shows that other techniques are needed to detect breast cancer in its earliest stages, said Dr. John E. Niederhuber, director of the National Cancer Institute, which funded the study.
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women, next to skin cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that 178,480 women will be diagnosed with the disease this year, and 40,460 will die of it.
Tips for women
Healthy women should begin getting mammograms every year or two once they reach age 40, experts say. Here are tips from the American Cancer Society and other experts:
Find an experienced, high-volume center with accomplished radiologists. You can ask for their credentials.
Ask to see the certificate showing the center is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Use the same center regularly, so it’s easier to compare your new mammograms with your old ones.
Bring a list of places you’ve had mammograms, dates, biopsies or other breast treatments. Bring old mammograms or have them sent.
Describe any breast problems to the person doing the mammogram.
Be ready to give past surgeries, hormone use and family or personal history of breast cancer.
Call your doctor or center to check on the mammogram if you hear nothing within 10 days. Don’t assume everything was normal.
Source: The Associated Press
