Digital breast tomosynthesis might be the preferable cancer screening method for women with dense breasts who also have other risk factors, as new research suggests it decreases the likelihood that advanced breast cancer will go undetected. 

A new paper published this week in JAMA shares how researchers analyzed more than 1 million screening mammograms to compare invasive interval cancer detection rates to advanced cancer detection rates for both digital breast tomosynthesis and digital mammography exams—with special attention paid to women with dense breasts and other factors that raise their risk of a breast cancer diagnosis. Though there were no statistically significant differences between interval cancer rates for DBT and DM screening methods on women at average risk, women with extremely dense breasts and additional risk factors were found to have increased rates of advanced cancer detection via DBT screening. 

In an editorial published alongside the study, co-authors Sarah M. Friedewald, MD, of the Department of Radiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and Lars J. Grimm, MD, MHS, of the Department of Radiology at Duke University School of Medicine in North Carolina, explain the logic behind the comparative analysis: 

“Typically, an interval cancer is identified when the patient presents with signs or symptoms: a new palpable abnormality, breast discharge, or other change in the breast that would prompt the patient to seek medical care. In essence, interval cancers are a result of screening failures. Therefore, reduction of this subset of cancers is a desired goal of screening.”