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April 3rd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda TUESDAY, April 3 (HealthDay News) — New research suggests that
adding an ultrasound or MRI scan to breast cancer screening if a woman has
dense breasts and at least one other risk factor for breast cancer would
increase the number of cancers found.
Dense breast tissue increases a woman’s risk of developing breast
cancer, and it also makes screening for breast cancer more difficult with
standard mammography, previous research has found.
The addition of ultrasound to screening resulted in the detection of an
additional 4.3 cancers per 1,000 women screened, and MRI resulted in an
additional 14.7 cancers detected per 1,000 screened on average, according
to the results of the new study. These cancers were found before they had
spread to nearby lymph nodes.
“This is a very important time in breast cancer screening. Breast
cancer is becoming more treatable, and now we have these extra tools to
find cancers,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Wendie Berg, a professor
of radiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,
Magee-Womens Hospital.
But, she added that women need to be informed that while MRI and
ultrasound are more sensitive tests that detect more breast cancers, these
tests also come with the risk of false positives. “You have to be willing
to accept the risk of extra testing,” she said.
Results of the study are published in the April 4 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association. Funding for the study
was provided by the Avon Foundation and the U.S. National Cancer
Institute.
The study included almost 2,700 women who underwent annual mammography
and ultrasound for three years. At the end of three years, the women were
offered the chance to undergo MRI screening, which requires the use of a
special dye (injected through an intravenous line) and lying still in the
enclosed MRI machine, which can be a problem for people who are
uncomfortable in confined spaces. Just 58 percent of the women decided to
undergo MRI.
All of the women included in the study had dense or extremely dense
breast tissue. Berg noted that about 40 percent of women under 50 years
old and 30 percent of women over 50 have dense breast tissue.
The women in the study also had at least one additional risk factor for
breast cancer, according to Berg. Risk factors that indicate an
intermediate risk of breast cancer include a personal history of breast
cancer, a previous unusual breast tissue biopsy or an intermediate family
history of breast cancer (meaning not someone in the immediate family).
Factors that indicate a high risk of breast cancer include having a
known breast cancer gene, prior radiation treatment to the chest or an
immediate family history of the disease. In women with a high risk, which
is about 1 percent to 2 percent of women according to Berg, it’s already
recommended that they undergo MRI in addition to mammography.
What’s been less clear is how best to screen women with dense breast
tissue and an intermediate risk of cancer.
After three years, a total of 7,473 mammograms and ultrasounds were
completed, and 612 women had completed MRIs. There were 111 breast cancers
detected. Thirty-three were detected by mammogram alone, while 32 were
found by ultrasound alone, and another 26 were found by both. Nine cancers
were detected by MRI after women had already undergone mammography and
ultrasound. Eleven cancers weren’t detected by any of the screening
methods — they were found either by the women or their doctors
discovering a lump.
As for false positive rates, Berg said that ultrasound resulted in an
additional 7 percent recall rate, and 5 percent of those women had to have
a biopsy. Only 7 percent of the biopsies detected cancer, she said. But
for MRI, the recall rate was 20 percent and 7 percent of those women
needed a biopsy. Just 19 percent of these biopsies found cancer, said
Berg.
Berg pointed out that insurers may or may not pay for ultrasound
screenings, and that requests for MRI screenings are often denied because
of the significant cost of the test.
Commenting on the study findings, Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of
surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said:
“Insurance companies probably won’t pay for an MRI unless a woman is high
risk. And, cost isn’t always the bottom line. MRI does generate false
positives, which aren’t innocuous. They have their risks and
complications.”
Bernik recommended that women ask their doctors whether or not their
mammography showed dense breast tissue. If you have dense breast tissue,
she recommended asking your doctor if you should be getting a screening
ultrasound as well. “There are risk factors other than dense breast tissue
that factor into the decision, so ask your doctor if you need it,” said
Bernik.
Both Bernik and Berg noted that ultrasound screening for breast cancer
isn’t yet available everywhere, and that the quality of the test depends a
lot on who’s doing it.
More information
Learn more about breast cancer detection techniques from the American Cancer Society.
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