Thursday, March 15, 2007
Medical Reports: Tracking Tumors
It could be a breakthrough that changes the way women are screened for breast cancer. A new machine that would replace uncomfortable mammograms and actually detect breast cancer earlier. 7's Diana Diaz shows us how a machine is Tracking Tumors in 3-D.
WSVN -- Jennifer Graham is building a scrapbook.
It's not for a vacation or a trip, but for a journey she never dreamed she would take, living through breast cancer.
Jennifer Graham: "This can't be happening to me. I'm too young for this.
Like many women in their 30s, Jennifer didn't think it could happen to her.
She'd never even had a mammogram.
Jennifer Graham: "I did a self exam, and I felt a lump."
Breast cancer often strikes women before the recommended age to get a mammogram.
Researchers at Duke University think they've come up with a way to detect cancer in women earlier.
Radiologist Martin Tornaihas created a new type of CT scanner that provides a 3-D image of the breast.
Traditional mammograms provide only a two-dimensional image.
The biggest selling point, no more uncomfortable squeezing of the breast.
Martin Tornai: "Our first priority is to make sure that patients are going to be comfortable because mammography often turns off a group of women from actually going to get regular screenings."
With this new scanner, the woman lies on her stomach, as a camera swings up and down, encircling the entire breast.
So far, they've found the scanner can detect tumors as small as 5 millimeters in artificial breast models like this.
Martin Tornai: "It's very close to her chest wall, otherwise deep inside of her breast."
Researchers hope the scanner will one day be used for young women at high risk, plus just make the whole process easier for every woman.
Martin Tornai: "The idea is that being able to catch the cancer earlier, you'll be able to do something to potentially cure these women earlier."Another benefit, the scanner may expose patients to less radiation. Right now this scanner is in a small patient trial at Duke, but, hopefully, one day, it will be in doctors offices.