3-D breast screening machine may improve chance of detecting cancer
3-D mammography may improve breast cancer detection, but its effectiveness is unproven, writes Jeanette Wang
Three-dimensional technology has reproduced a relatively faithful representation of physical reality in film and on television, and now it has the potential to do the same with breast cancer imaging.
Breast tomosynthesis - or 3-D mammography, in layman's terms - significantly improves breast cancer detection while simultaneously reducing recall rates over conventional 2-D mammography, according to supporters of the new technology.
There is as yet no solid data to prove the 3-D technique finds more cancers
But some experts warn that the benefits are not yet proven. Moreover, they say that tomosynthesis also exposes women to even more unnecessary radiation, since it's carried out on top of conventional mammography.
"Tomosynthesis hasn't yet replaced 2-D mammography, but it's very promising," says Dr Hung Wai-ka, honorary medical adviser to the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation's Breast Health Centre.
Breast tomosynthesis was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in February 2011. It first appeared in Hong Kong later that year, at Tung Wah Group of Hospital's Well Women Clinics, according to the clinics' honorary consultant, Dr Lui Chun-ying.
