Risk-based breast cancer screening is back in the news, with two recent studies reporting success. But these studies have drawn criticism from medical imaging societies.
Results from the WISDOM trial and a separate modeling study published in JAMA Network Open suggest that risk-based screening can be just as effective as annual screening with mammography. The American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI) issued responses to these studies, saying they should not substitute annual screening.
In this episode, Vilert Loving, MD, discusses risk-based screening versus society-backed breast cancer screening with annual mammography. Loving is a breast radiologist at Ochsner Health in Louisiana and an SBI fellow.
Loving outlines what all goes into risk assessment for women getting their breast screenings and why imaging societies continue to back guidelines calling for annual mammograms. He also talks about why some women opt to avoid their mammography appointments and how differences in guidelines among societies and medical task forces may cause confusion.
Loving also goes over the SBI’s criticisms of the WISDOM and JAMA studies, focusing on the methodologies of these studies.
On the optimistic side, Loving discusses future directions toward risk assessment, including how AI could help improve and improve breast cancer screening.
