Computer-aided detection system for mammography does not change recall, detec...( rates (about 3.5 cases detected per 100...),Health

"[A]ctually observed changes in our practice were substantially lower than expected," the authors write. "This is not to say that the use of computer-aided detection would not be beneficial or cost-effective in other practices. Rather, we suggest that, at its current level of performance, computer-aided detection may not improve mammography recall or breast cancer detection rates in academic practices similar to ours that employ specialists for interpreting screening mammograms."

In an editorial, Joann G. Elmore, M.D., of the University of Washington, Seattle, and Patricia A. Carney, Ph.D., of Dartmouth Medical School, note that there are a few limitations to the study, including the fact that the data did not take into account the characteristics of the women in the study and that there was limited follow-up information on the women diagnosed with breast cancer. Nevertheless, they say, the study underscores the importance of ongoing studies of new technologies. "As more studies on computer-aided detection in the community setting are published and as computer-aided detection systems improve, we hope that women's lives can ultimately be saved by this new technology," they write.

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Contact: Katherine Arnold
jncimedia@oupjournals.org
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
3-Feb-2004