Sunday, November 26 | 1:10 p.m.-1:20 p.m. | S4-SSPH02-2 | Room N227B
Here, attendees will learn how although digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) plus synthesized mammography may lead to higher average glandular doses, these doses do lower as breast density increases.
In his presentation, Walter Heindel, MD, from the University of Münster in Germany found that compared to standard digital mammography, DBT plus synthesized mammography leads to a median increase of nearly 1 mGy. However, with increasing breast density, the median average glandular dose for the combined method decreased by 22% from density category A (fatty) to category D (extremely dense).
While the TOmosynthesis plus SYnthesized MAmmography (TOSYMA) trial showed that DBT plus synthesized mammography has a higher cancer detection rate for invasive breast cancers than digital mammography, the researchers noted that DBT operates with higher average glandular doses of radiation. Heindel and co-authors wanted to explore how average glandular doses are affected by breast density, comparing doses from DBT plus synthesized mammography and digital mammography. They included data from 196,622 exposures for the combined method and 197,037 exposures from digital mammography.
The team found that the average glandular dosage was higher for the combined method by 0.94 mGy over digital mammography (p < 0.001).
However, it also found that the median dosage applied in DBT plus synthesized mammography decreased from 2.22 mGy in density category A to 1.73 mGy in category D. In comparison, the median dosage applied in the mammography screening arm decreased by 2.9% with rising breast density, from 1.36 mGy (category A) to 1.33 mGy (category D).
The Heindel team suggested that these results point to DBT plus synthesized mammography detecting more invasive cancers in dense breasts with a relatively low radiation dose. Find out more about its findings in this presentation.
