By Fred Tasker
Screening for breast cancer with both ultrasound and mammogram gives a better diagnosis than with either method by itself – although it increases the number of biopsies for lesions that turn out to be noncancerous.
The findings, in a study in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, affirms a belief long held by Dr. Nilza Kallos of the Breast Health Center and Diagnostic Ultrasound of Miami, a pioneer in using ultrasound.
“For many years, we have been asking for this study because insurance was not paying for routine ultrasound,” Kallos said. “Now we think they will.”
Kallos urged ultrasound testing for women at high risk – those with a family history, those who are diagnosed before age 50, those who test positive for certain genetic mutations – and women with relatively dense breasts.
“Even a digital mammogram is not enough for these women,” she said.
In the study, led by Dr. Wendie Berg of Johns Hopkins University, 2,637 high-risk women were screened, and 40 breast cancers were found. Of the cancers found:
30 percent were detected by mammogram only.
30 percent by ultrasound only.
20 percent by both.
20 percent were not found by either, but discovered within 12 months after the study.
The study took place in 15 medical centers in the United States, Europe and Argentina.