Not really, according to Dutch researchers. A team led by Jan van Zelst of Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen found that adding ABUS to the women's screening program did not increase cancer detection.
The researchers included 295 BRCA gene mutation carriers in the study, offering them five rounds of screening over two years. Four breast radiologists read all exams -- mammography, MRI, and ABUS; van Zelst and colleagues analyzed each modality's sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value.
Of the 295 women, 16 were diagnosed with a screen-detected cancer. Six of these were ductal carcinoma in situ, none of which were found on ABUS; 10 were invasive, with ABUS identifying seven.
ABUS did not find any additional cancers, leading the researchers to conclude that adding ABUS to the screening protocol for this particular population of at-risk women is not beneficial.
