Advances in Mammography Have Improved Early Detection of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer remains a leading cause of death among women throughout the world. The incidence is increasing globally and the disease remains a significant public health problem. Mammography is currently the best method to detect early breast cancer before it becomes clinically palpable. The use of mammography results in a 25% to 30% decreased mortality rate in screened women compared with controls after 5 to 7 years. Today’s dedicated mammographic equipment with specially designed X-ray screen/film combinations coupled with controlled film processing produces excellent image quality mammograms. It is important to produce reliable high-contrast, high-resolution images for mammography. Both the American College of Radiology Mammography Accreditation Program and the Mammography Quality Standards Act have had significant impact on the technical quality of mammographic images in the USA and worldwide. The recent development in digital mammography has opened the possibility for improving diagnosis and novel applications. This article reviews the major technical developments that led to today’s high quality mammograms.

[1]  F. Levi,et al.  Cancer incidence in five continents, vol. VI , 1993 .

[2]  Peter C Gøtzsche,et al.  Is screening for breast cancer with mammography justifiable? , 2000, The Lancet.

[3]  L. Tabár,et al.  The Swedish Two-County Trial twenty years later. Updated mortality results and new insights from long-term follow-up. , 2000, Radiologic clinics of North America.

[4]  Carol H Lee.  Screening mammography: proven benefit, continued controversy. , 2002, Radiologic clinics of North America.

[5]  S. Feig,et al.  Ductal carcinoma in situ. Implications for screening mammography. , 2000 .

[6]  S. Rubin,et al.  Efficacy of screening mammography. A meta-analysis. , 1995, JAMA.

[7]  R E Hendrick,et al.  American College of Radiology guidelines for breast cancer screening. , 1998, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[8]  R. Hendrick,et al.  Performance comparison of full-field digital mammography to screen-film mammography in clinical practice. , 2002, Medical physics.

[9]  M J Yaffe,et al.  Screen-film and digital mammography. Image quality and radiation dose considerations. , 2000, Radiologic clinics of North America.

[10]  C. D'Orsi,et al.  Clinical comparison of full-field digital mammography and screen-film mammography for detection of breast cancer. , 2002, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[11]  V. Jackson.  Screening mammography: controversies and headlines. , 2002, Radiology.

[12]  Andrew D. A. Maidment,et al.  Digital Mammography , 2019, Advances in Clinical Radiology.

[13]  Peter C Gøtzsche,et al.  Cochrane review on screening for breast cancer with mammography , 2001, The Lancet.

[14]  P. Stomper,et al.  Ductal carcinoma in situ: the mammographer's perspective. , 1994, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[15]  P. C. Johns,et al.  X-ray characterisation of normal and neoplastic breast tissues. , 1987, Physics in medicine and biology.

[16]  S A Feig.  Hormonal reduction of mammographic densities: potential effects on breast cancer risk and performance of diagnostic and screening mammography. , 1994, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[17]  B. Ramshaw,et al.  Twenty-Year Review of a Breast Cancer Screening Project: Ninety-Five Percent Survival of Patients With Nonpalpable Cancers , 1996 .

[18]  R E Hendrick,et al.  Benefit of mammography screening in women ages 40 to 49 Years. Current evidence from randomized controlled trials , 1995, Cancer.

[19]  Jacques Ferlay,et al.  Cancer incidence in five continents. , 1976, IARC scientific publications.