Contact: 
Jason Merrill 
314-286-0302 
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ST. LOUIS – A new technology approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) February 11, 2011 – breast tomosynthesis – offers radiologists at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine “3D” images of breast tissue from screening mammograms instead of the traditional “2D” image alone. 

Breast tomosynthesis is a special application of traditional digital mammography taking a series of fifteen low-dose mammograms at one time, allowing a radiologist to view the breast in three dimensions. The images produced allow the radiologist to view a series of slices in the breast, a so-called “3D” image. 

Radiologists at Siteman have used the technology in clinical trials since 2009. 

“One of the advantages of breast tomosynthesis is that with 2D imaging, the breast tissue overlaps quite a bit so you may often see false positives,” says Dione Farria, MD, radiologist at Washington University’s Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology who practices at the Joanne Knight Breast Health Center at Siteman Cancer Center. “What you think are abnormalities are really just overlapping tissue from different planes.” 

Often due to the findings of such abnormalities, one in ten mammograms lead to a woman being called back for a return visit. A study in the August 2009 issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology found the enhanced screening from breast tomosynthesis in combination with digital mammography helped reduce the recall rate by 30%. 

That’s thought to be significant as women who come back for more screening undergo not only additional x-rays, but experience anxiety in being called back for what may be an abnormal mammogram. 

“One of the potential advantages to tomosynthesis is reducing the number of women who have to come back,” says Dr. Farria, who is lead principal investigator in the use of breast tomosynthesis at Siteman Cancer Center, where the technology has been in study since 2009. 

While breast tomosynthesis offers a radiologist enhanced images, the experience for a patient is no different than traditional mammography. At this point breast tomosynthesis is not covered by most insurance companies, as while it’s a promising new technology, its role in the breast cancer screening process is currently being explored. 

“What we don’t know yet is if it should be used for all women who have a screening mammogram or if it should be used on a subset of women,” says Dr. Farria. “For example, women who have dense breasts or women who get their first mammogram, because when you get your first mammogram the likelihood of being called back is much greater.”