Dear Women's Imaging Insider,
For a woman with a breast lump, a biopsy is usually undertaken if the patient is older than 25, but the age limit could probably be extended to 35 without having a substantial effect on diagnostic accuracy, provided certain criteria are met.
That's the view of Dr. Christopher Loughran, a highly experienced clinical radiologist from the U.K. He's analyzed the cases of over 100 young women who underwent ultrasound-guided breast core biopsy during a four-year period. His findings deserve a close look in our news report.
An important study published last week in the Journal of Medical Screening contained a few surprises about the take up of cancer screening in England among women in their early 60s. It's fair to say there's plenty of scope for improvement, as our article underlines.
Many recent studies have set out to compare the pros and cons of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and digital mammography for screening, but very few authors have looked specifically at the financial aspects. A Norwegian team has tried to fill this void by scrutinizing the costs of screening nearly 30,000 women using these two techniques.
Also coming from Norway is an intriguing discussion of which factors can influence physicians' behavior when it comes to recommending cancer screening to patients.
Swedish investigators have been keeping busy too. A group from Lund has discovered DBT and digital mammography appear to detect cancers of a similar biologic profile.
The U.K. authorities announced last year that thousands of women missed invitations to breast screening appointments due to a computer error. Despite this fiasco, a study published on 6 September found the public's trust in the breast screening service remains intact.
This letter features only a few of the news reports posted over the past few weeks in the Women's Imaging Community. Please scroll through the full list of our coverage below.
