Which Imaging Solution is Best for Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is arguably the best-branded medical condition in the United States. One in eight women receive a breast cancer diagnosis during their lifetime, making it the most common cancer worldwide. It stands to reason that patients have become particularly educated regarding this disease.

In our recent conversations with imaging providers regarding their mammography/women’s imaging solutions, providers mentioned that patients have now started to request a tomosynthesis exam by name instead of just calling it 3D mammography or being ignorant about the relatively new process entirely. Clearly, the breast cancer message has been successfully spread.

Traditionally, normal mammography served as the best method for early detection of breast cancer. However its inability to create a 3D image of the breast tissue means that false negatives and positives abound from traditional 2D images. This can result in patients being called in for unneeded return appointments or possibly receiving unnecessary treatment.

While the 3D imaging process of tomosynthesis isn’t a perfect resolution to these concerns, the ability to render an image of the breast tissue in 3D has become critical in assisting providers with diagnosis and patient care. That, in part, explains why 89% of the respondents KLAS interviewed in June said that upgrading to tomosynthesis is a worthwhile investment.

This year, KLAS released the Tomosynthesis 2016 report, designed to help providers understand how the 3 big tomosynthesis vendors (Hologic, GE, and Siemens) compare to one another. Now that all 3 vendors have their 3D mammography solutions FDA approved, it is even more important for you to know which solution best suits your breast cancer imaging needs.