Digital mammograms found better for younger women
Digital mammograms work at least as well as standard film technology at detecting early-stage breast cancer, and the newer method offers clear advantages to younger women and those whose breast scans are hard to read.
A major study released Friday gave new impetus to a digital revolution already under way in breast cancer screening. But experts insisted there's nothing wrong with an old-fashioned mammogram, either.
"Nobody has to run out and demand digital," said Dr. R. James Brenner, chief of breast imaging at UCSF and the current president of the Society of Breast Imaging, the nation's largest such organization.
Despite the latest study results, he said, "it's still more important who's reading the picture than whether it was done on film screen or digital."
The long-awaited study was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and published online by the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the release of the key results at a medical meeting. more