Think Pinker

It’s always exciting where new tools become available to help diagnose breast cancer early. Just recently there seems to be a lot of buzz over a new screening tool. According to Reuters, US researchers, when it comes to finding tumors this new screening tool is said to be three times better than a mammogram.

Mammography which is really only a painful x-ray of the breast detects less than 33% of all tumors. That’s actually an alarmingly low number, because that means that 67% of all tumors are not being picked up with mammography.

This new tool is called molecular breast imaging or MBI. The American Society of Oncology is very excited about this new tool.

Mammography is the most useful tool currently available and it’s used regularly to screen for breast cancer. The problem is that for women that have breast dense tissue the mammogram won’t usually see through it and therefore small tumors will not be spotted. Doctor’s have long been worried about early stage breast cancers that are being missed but with no other tools they had little choice but to hope for the best.

940 women participated in a study with the molecular breast imaging which is still in the experimental stages so not readily available. The women involved in the study were all considered high risk based on family history.

The MBI process injects a radioactive material which is absorbed by the breast. Cancer cells will absorb more than health cells will, and then specialized cameras will detect gamma rays differentiating the tumors from healthy tissue.

So far it’s looking very promising, with a much higher success rate at finding tumors. One size fits all screening is disappearing according to the American Cancer Society, and that’s good news.

For now all we can do is wait with anticipation that “help is on the way!”