Computer-aided detection (CAD), a technology used in 90% of all mammograms today, does not seem to improve diagnostic accuracy during breast cancer screenings, according to a new study led by Dr. Constance Lehman of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Despite its approval by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998, it has been difficult to ascertain how much of a difference CAD actually makes with regard to cancer treatment.
CAD (Computer-aided detection): what are the benefits?
Today, CAD is used by doctors to interpret medical images and highlight areas of concern that radiologists might miss otherwise. Its adoption into common medical practice has been wrought with controversy as prior studies of the technology were conducted during the very early phases of utilization.
For this particular study, Dr. Lehman, along with her team, considered mammograms that had been reviewed by radiologists who had been working with CAD for a minimum of a year, according to Reuters. Between 2003—2009, roughly 324,000 women in the study had nearly 626,000 digital screen mammography exams. Of this number, 495,818 were interpreted with CAD and 3,159 were later diagnosed with breast cancer a year after the screening. Radiologists, however, were able to accurately detect breast cancer around 85 percent of the time whether or not the technology was implemented; in some cases, the detection rates were even lower with CAD.
The finding is concerning as CAD now costs more than $400 million annually and in many cases, women are paying for the examination out of their own pockets. “We should certainly stop charging for it. We want to use our health-care dollars on technology that will improve the health of our patients,” states Lehman.
Study authors state that radiologists should be mindful when using CAD, as an area could be problematic, even if it isn’t marked. The results, now published in JAMA Internal Medicine, have also been backed up by two previous studies. However, both of those studies were criticized because they involved either older versions of the technology or older women as study participants. The present study is considered to be one of the largest concerning the topic.
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CAD May Not Detect Breast Cancer In Patients
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