ECR mammography symposium: How to improve cancer detection while lowering radiation
With a proven mortality decrease of up to 45%, mammography screening is arguably the best tool for finding cancers early. However, we still miss a significant fraction of the cancers. Digital mammography was a great leap forward, but what can we do next to increase the cancer detection rate?
At this symposium, we will receive a summary of the performance of digital mammography in the Irish screening program. Ireland was the first country in Europe to go fully digital. Moreover, we will cover the latest results for tomosynthesis and spectral imaging, the two most promising candidates for technology to further increase specificity and sensitivity. Also, we will present an update on the risk associated with the radiation received in conjunction with a mammography examination.
Date: Saturday March 5, 14:00 to 15:30
Place: Room N/0, Level 1 in the congress center
Book your seat at: ecrsymposium@sectra.com
Topics
Risk of radiation-induced breast cancer in mammographic screening
Martin J. Yaffe, PhD, Professor of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto
Benefit and risks of mammography screening has been debated frequently in both the popular press and in medical literature over the last year. This presentation will present a schema for estimating the risk ofradiation-induced breast cancer following mammography and estimate the potential number of breast cancers, cancer deaths, and woman-years of life lost that are attributable to radiation exposure delivered according to a variety of screening scenarios, such as radiation dose and screening age.
Breast Tomosynthesis – An overview and results from the first prospective clinical study comparing tomosynthesis to 2 view and 1 view 2D mammography
Mathew Wallis, MD, Consultant Radiologist, Addenbrook’s Hospital, Cambridge
Tomosynthesis has received a lot of attention of late with several clinical studies published. However the benefit and role of the technique have yet to be defined. In a multi-centre multi reader trial we attempted to measure the effect of one-view and two-view tomosynthesis vs digital mammography. The evaluation was done with ROC methodology using the area under curve as a figure of merit for 20 radiologists. Results and discussion on the use of tomosynthesis will be presented.
10 Years of Breast Screening in Ireland – Clinical Review and Impact of Digital Imaging
Dr. Fidelma Flanagan, MD, Consultant Radiologist and Clinical Director, BreastCheck Ireland
Ireland was the first country in Europe to implement a nationwide screening program based on digital mammography. We are now able to present an evaluation of the efficiency together with general experiences and plans for the future. The evaluation will contain cancer detection efficiency and call back rates as well as positive predictive values. We have also accumulated data for radiation dose. The data will be presented for individual modalities as well as for different cancer types and age groups in order to learn as much as possible from our experience.
First clinical results of single shot spectral imaging in mammography
Magnus Åslund, PhD, Chief Technical Officer, Sectra
More than 100 years after the discovery of the x-rays the images are still very much black and white and the energies and corresponding color of the x-rays is not resolved. The last years however this started to change and CT dual energy systems are now commonplace. In mammography measuring the energies of the x-rays can be utilized to determine the actual composition of the object and not only the gray scale value. The technique has the potential to discriminate cysts from tumors but also to differentiate cancers from surrounding tissue. This may in turn reduce callbacks and increase the cancer detection rate. In contrast mammography single-shot spectral imaging can be used to single out the iodine signal from the background to visualize the angiogenesis associated to the cancer. Also the energy information for the x-rays can be used for suppression of anatomic noise in dense breasts. In single-shot spectral imaging you always have the possibility to retrieve the ordinary black and white image, which simply means adding the images for different energies together. For all these techniques it is now possible to show the first clinical results and the challenges that lie ahead are discussed.
About Sectra’s medical operations
Sectra develops and sells IT-systems and products for radiology, mammography and orthopaedic departments. More than 1,100 hospitals worldwide use the system daily, together performing over 52 million radiology examinations annually. This makes Sectra one of the world leading companies within systems for handling digital radiology images (PACS). In Scandinavia, Sectra is the market leader with more than 50% of all film-free installations. Outside Scandinavia, Sectra’s system is installed at customers in North America and most major countries in Europe and the Far East.
About the Sectra Group
Sectra successfully develops and sells cutting-edge products in the expansive niche segments of medical systems and secure communication systems. The company was founded in 1978 and has its roots in the Linköping Institute of Technology in Sweden. Today, Sectra has offices in twelve countries and operates through partners worldwide. Sales in the 2009/2010 fiscal year totaled SEK 848 million. The Sectra share is quoted on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm AB exchange. For more information, visit http://www.sectra.com/.
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