Study: Breast cancer detection not better with computer aid

breast cancer
Micrograph showing a lymph node invaded by ductal breast carcinoma, with extension of the tumour beyond the lymph node. Credit: Nephron/Wikipedia

New research says computer-assisted detection used in most U.S. mammograms adds no benefit to women.

The uses special software to highlight suspicious areas on mammogram images that radiologists reading the scans may have missed. Doctors take another look before making a determination.

Screening mammograms are and most women don't pay more for the technique, but the researchers say it adds millions to U.S. ,

Previous studies suggesting benefits mostly involved older film mammograms. Most scans now are digital. The study involved nearly 324,000 U.S. women who had screening mammograms, most with computer assistance and some without. The overall cancer detection rate was about 4 in 1,000 women and was identical in both groups.

The study appears in Monday's JAMA Internal Medicine.

Journal information: JAMA Internal Medicine

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