The US issues updated breast cancer screening guidance

Great news for women in the US as their preventative service task force recommends lowering the age of breast screening commencement to 40.

It is another step forward for all those who have been working so hard to deliver screening to a wider pool of women but to also ensure they have the right test for their breast tissue type. Lowering of the recommended screening age as well as implementing mandatory breast density information pushes the US beyond where we are in Europe, albeit not as far as we had all hoped in mandating supplemental testing for women with dense breast tissue.

Dense fibroglandular tissue has a significant impact on the ability for a standard mammogram to detect cancer in “dense” breasts (as low as 4 in 10 in some cases). This is a problem that affects around 50% of the existing screening population. Density decreases with age so lowering the screening age will only increase the number of women impacted by density.

Suppliers of Mammography equipment have been working for decades to improve these detection rates and there is much clinical evidence that indicates a significant improvement in detection rates by applying different Mammography techniques (like Tomosynthensis (3D) or the use of a pre Mammogram injection of Iodine, as a contrast agent). These techniques can deliver detection rates that deliver similar detection rates for all women and all breast tissue types. The issue is you have to know breast density up front to understand the most appropriate diagnostic technique, or else the only option is to lead with a standard Mammogram that isn’t the best test (to detect cancer) for over 50% of women and then follow with a second test for those with dense breasts.

At Micrima Limited we have developed a handheld and portable scanner that uses radiowave technology, developed over a twenty year period, to measure breast density ahead of any imaging. It’s super quick, safe, pain free and can be operated by anyone after just 30 minutes of training. Its use can transform pathways by enabling selection of the best imaging technique, to detect cancer, in each individual patients breast tissue type first time. This takes away the issues of cost and capacity of 2 tests for the 50% of women who have a standard mammogram and then require supplemental tests, when they are found to have dense breast tissue.

Over 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime. That’s 500M women alive today that will experience breast cancer at some point post puberty. Survival rates are incredible, if that cancer is detected whilst still localised in the breast (around 99%) but drop significantly if that cancer is only found once it has spread outside of the breast. Ultimately 1 in 10 of women, who get breast cancer will die purely as a result of late detection. That’s 50 MILLION women alive today.

So let’s all keep working together to both develop new technology and spread awareness amongst women and change these statistics.