Every two years, French women aged 50 to 74 are invited to take part in organized breast cancer screening. Very concretely, this screening involves two examinations: a clinical examination of the chest and a mammography, that is to say an ultrasound of the breast tissue.
Until now, the health authorities recommended the realization of a digital mammography (2D). Carried out standing, this examination requires the (moderate) compression of the patient’s breast so as to obtain two or three views of the face and obliquely.
In an opinion issued this Friday, March 17, 2023, the High Authority for Health (HAS) “recommends the integration of mammography by tomosynthesis in organized screening for breast cancer, provided that it is systematically associated with the reconstruction of a synthetic 2D image (3D + 2Ds)“.
A procedure that allows “to improve the performance of organized screening”
What is this ? Tomosynthesis (or 3D mammography) is “a mammography technique which makes it possible to obtain a three-dimensional reconstructed digital image from images of the breast obtained under different sections“.
“This technique (apart from the fact that it reduces compression and improves patient comfort) makes it possible to very significantly increase the sensitivity of mammography, particularly in dense and heterogeneous breasts.” describes the Pyramides Medical Imaging Center (in Paris).
What is the interest of promoting 3D mammography? “Studies concerning 3D (associated with 2Ds), a less irradiating method which also allows the second reading, have on the other hand shown encouraging results.explains the High Authority of Health (HAS). This procedure makes it possible to improve the performance of organized screening, in particular its cancer detection rate, without increasing the number of imaging procedures and the exposure dose..”
Source :HAS press release