NEW! Screening Technology Info for Patients
The FDA requirement for density inform is around the corner, and with it will come new patient/provider conversations about what it means and what to do. To gear up, DBI has developed simplified, introductory content for patients, Screening Tests After a Mammogram. We extend thanks to our hardworking Patient Advisory Group who devoted much time and input into its development. Please visit and share the new page!
DBI News
ECR Meeting, New MAB Member
European Congress of Radiology
DenseBreast-info.org/Europe will be attending #ECR2024, (Feb 28 – March 3) in Vienna. Both DBI’s European Liaison Dr. Athina Vourtsis, and Education Coordinator Cheryl Cruwys, will be on hand. Please visit the DBI/Europe team in the Austria Center, Level 1, Foyer 1, at the ESR Patient Advisory Group booth.
Medical Advisory Board
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Ellen Mendelson to DBI’s stellar Medical Advisory Board! Dr. Mendelson is Professor Emeritus of Radiology and formerly Division Chief of Breast and Women’s Imaging at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. Her extensive clinical research includes authorship and co-authorship of over 34 peer reviewed articles and participation in 2 clinical trials in the past 15 years. Dr. Mendelson’s long-awaited textbook on automated breast ultrasound is scheduled for publication in late 2024, (Mendelson, Vourtsis, and Spear, eds. Automated Breast Ultrasound for Screening and Diagnosis, Elsevier).
JBI Open Access Article, UK Celebrity Supporter
JBI Article – Now Open Access
Article Implementing the National Dense Breast Reporting Standard, Expanding Supplemental Screening Using Current Guidelines, and the Proposed Find It Early Act is now available as open access. The FDA’s density reporting requirement goes into effect on September 10, 2024. Letters will tell women if their breasts are “dense” or “not dense.” Implementing appropriate supplemental screening should be based on patient risk for missed breast cancer on mammography; such assessment should include consideration of breast density and other risk factors. Many women with dense breasts meet current criteria for “high-risk” screening and should be recommended for screening MRI. This article discusses strategies for implementation and simple “back-of-the-envelope” guides to help identify women at high risk. Please share the article with colleagues and on social media.
UK News – Celebrity Supporter
In a national UK TV appearance, Julia Bradbury, TV presenter/journalist/celebrity, talked about her dense breasts and missed-cancer-on-a-mammogram experience: https://x.com/5_News/status/1747700392345862533?s=20. Julia’s social media posts that followed directed viewers to DenseBreast-info.org/Europe and resulted in an amazing response! Over 121.8K views, 9,404 likes and 1,026 comments. About 100 women contacted Cheryl Cruwys, DBI’s European Education Coordinator, for more information. We thank Julia, who is passionate about raising dense breast awareness!
#WorldDenseBreastDay final numbers, New research
World Dense Breast Day
Final event numbers are in and highlight the reach and educational success of the day!
In a snapshot:
- We had participation from people in 64 countries
- Over 12.3 million people saw/read the posts
- Over 28,600 people interacted with a post by clicking, liking or sharing content
New Research
Just out in Radiology : Comparison of the Diagnostic Accuracy of Mammogram-based Deep Learning and Traditional Breast Cancer Risk Models in Patients Who Underwent Supplemental Screening with MRI. Deep learning models using mammogram-based features beyond breast density to estimate risk may better identify women who would benefit from high-risk supplemental MRI screening than traditional risk models. A recent study found that women identified as high risk by a mammogram-based deep learning risk assessment model had a higher cancer detection rate (20.6 per 1000 examinations) on MRI than those identified as high risk by Tyrer-Cuzick (6.0 per 1000) or NCI Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (6.8 per 1000) models.
#WorldDenseBreastDay, EUSOBI
Two events this week to be aware of:
#WorldDenseBreastDay, Sept 27
DBI social media posts will kick off on Sept 27 at midnight/US Eastern time and run for 24 hours. Over 100 posts in English and Spanish will highlight medically-sourced educational tools on the topic. For more info:https://densebreast-info.org/about-us/world-dense-breast-day/.
EUSOBI 2023, Sept 28
The European Society of Breast Imaging congress takes place 28-30 September in Valencia. The DenseBreast-info.org/Europe exhibition stand and promotional banner will be located at L13. Please Visit! Cheryl Cruwys, DBI’s European Education Coordinator, will be there.
Research and MAB News
New Research
Finding it early saves lives and money. New research out in Current Oncology, Capturing the True Cost of Breast Cancer Treatment: Molecular Subtype and Stage-Specific per-Case Activity-Based Costing details that “…the cost of BC treatment is many orders of magnitude less when BC is diagnosed at an earlier stage, and that costs increase exponentially with stage. The magnitude of difference in cost for treatment of late-stage compared to early-stage BC has been previously noted to be 3–4 times; however, our study shows a cost differential of up to 36 times in magnitude when DCIS is compared with stage IV.”
Welcome!
DBI welcomes new Medical Advisory Board members Dr. Sheila Appavoo and Dr. Lars Grimm and welcomes back Dr. Jennifer Harvey! Our hardworking volunteer MAB members contribute to and review all website content.
DBI Study and Article, New Research
In Case You Missed it
Two DBI initiatives on risk assessment and supplemental screening published in the Journal of Breast Imaging continue to be popular:
- Research: Effect of an Educational Intervention on Women’s Health Care Provider Knowledge Gaps about Breast Cancer Risk Model Use and High-Risk Screening Recommendations
- Article: Implementing the National Dense Breast Reporting Standard, Expanding Supplemental Screening Using Current Guidelines, and the Proposed Find It Early Act
Just Published
Out in Radiology, Comparative Performance of Contrast-enhanced Mammography, Abbreviated Breast MRI, and Standard Breast MRI for Breast Cancer Screening. Performance metrics were compared between pooled CEM and AbMRI evaluations from 246 participants (492 interpretations respectively) and 246 standard MRI evaluations from a single reader abstracted from the medical record. While the study found that the cancer detection rate and sensitivity of CEM was lower compared with standard MRI, importantly, readers were trained on CEM just prior to the study whereas MRI was used during the reader’s regular clinical practice. Differential experience interpreting CEM vs. MRI may have resulted in detection bias impacting the findings and pointing to the need for more radiologist training before widespread CEM use.
#WorldDenseBreastDay 2023; Just Published
World Dense Breast Day, sponsored by DenseBreast-info.org, is now on the National Day Calendar. The one-day social media event will take place on Wednesday, September 27th. The purpose of the day is to use the power of social media to raise awareness about dense breasts and share medically sourced educational resources. Please mark your calendars! For more info and details about the worldwide success of last year’s inaugural event, click HERE.
Just Published
Important paper coauthored by DBI MAB member Dr. Jean Seely, Impact of Breast Cancer Screening on 10-Year Net Survival in Canadian Women Age 40-49 Years, showing reduced breast cancer deaths in Canadian provinces screening women 40-49 compared to those starting at age 50. “Decisions around BC screening in women in their 40s must weigh the potential harms and benefits of screening; however, this is not possible without accurate information concerning the impact of BC on mortality in women aged 40-49 years.”
Latest Articles
Europe
A British Institute of Radiology (BIR) blog just out on breast density authored by DBI European Education Coordinator Cheryl Cruwys. The piece, ‘Why Understanding Breast Density Matters’, also provides an overview of the DBI/Europe website resources.
Just Published
Out in Radiology Beyond Breast Density: Risk Measures for Breast Cancer in Multiple Imaging Modalities, co-authored by MAB member Dr Emily Conant. Beyond breast density, the article describes the range of imaging markers associated with breast cancer risk in digital mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis, whole-breast US, and MRI.
RSNA prep, New Study
RSNA
The 108th meeting of the Radiological Society of North America will take place November 27 – December 1. Educational opportunities from our Medical Advisory Board (MAB) members include:
- Sunday 10:30 am, scientific session S2-SSBR01-2, Improving Surveillance of Women with Personal History of Breast Cancer Using Tomosynthesis or Contrast-Enhanced Mammography (TOCEM), room E450B, Dr. Wendie Berg
- Sunday 1:00 pm, educational course S4-CBR10, Factors Influencing Breast Risk, Screening MRI, Screening US, room E450B, Drs. Jennifer Harvey, Christiane Kuhl, Wendie Berg
- Education exhibit, poster 4522, 2022 New Trends in Breast Density – What Should We Know?, Learning Center BREE-7, Dr. Flavia Sarquis
New Study in Current Oncology
A prospective study, co-authored by MAB member Dr. Jean Seely, Feasibility Study and Clinical Impact of Incorporating Breast Tissue Density in High-Risk Breast Cancer Screening Assessment, assessed the feasibility and impact of incorporating breast tissue density (BTD) into the risk assessment of women referred to the High-Risk Ontario Breast Screening Program who were not genetic mutation carriers. Results showed that Incorporating BTD into risk assessment was feasible, did not increase the overall number of women eligible for B-MRI, and optimized supplemental B-MRI screening in women with dense breasts.
Provider Education
Educating Providers in Related Disciplines
A concise presentation by Dr. Wendie Berg, Breast Density Notification Rule: 2022 FDA, just aired on Oncology Tube. Topics included the implications of dense tissue, details on supplemental screening options, and the upcoming FDA national reporting standard.
National Rad Tech Week
This week was National Rad Tech Week in the U.S. DBI highlighted the day by sharing a fan-favorite YouTube video of mammographer Cindy Staker discussing the importance of positioning and the role technologists play in cancer detection. if you haven’t seen this powerful short video, it’s worth the watch/share, here.
Latest Updates and News at DBI
Updated Table:
As new research is published, website content is reviewed to incorporate it. Newly updated is the popular Technology Tab table, Cancer Detection by Screening Method.
DBI in the News:
Breast Cancer Awareness Month and news of an updated FDA timeline for a U.S. national “dense breast” reporting standard resulted in much demand for DBI comments, story input, and images. Below are some national media opportunities we were included in:
- People Magazine story, FDA to Implement New Mammogram Regulations to Support Women with Dense Breasts included a DBI quote and a mention/link to the DBI website
- CBS National News featured a story, FDA Plans New Regulations on Mammograms in Effort to Help Women with Dense Breasts, which included the DBI dynamic image of a cancer moving from a fatty to an extremely dense breast.
Final #WorldDenseBreastDay Totals and Spanish Tools
World Dense Breast Day (#WDBD):
Thank you for making history with us! The final stats are in and showed even a larger “turnout” for the event than initial analytics indicated:
- We had participation from people in over 37 countries
- Over 8.6 million people saw/read the posts
- Over 17,000 people interacted with the posts by clicking, liking, or sharing
U.S. Journalist and TV Personality Katie Couric
Katie Couric shared her personal story of breast cancer and dense breasts during our first annual #WorldDenseBreastDay. The non-stop social media activity for both #WDBD posts and her story make clear the strong interest and need for accurate information on the topic. Enjoy this piece about Katie Couric ‘s experience which includes DenseBreast-info.org and links to our U.S. legislation map: https://www.today.com/health/what-are-dense-breasts-fda-wants-women-know-about-breast-t151225?cid=sm_npd_td_tw_ma
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Spanish Tools:
A reminder that DBI dense breast education tools are available in multiple languages including a full suite of patient content in Spanish. Spanish-language tools include:
- Patient Brochure (printable)
- Patient Fact Sheet (printable)
- Patient Risk Checklist (printable)
- Patient Videos
World Dense Breast Day, SUCCESS!
DBI launched the first ever #WorldDenseBreastDay on Sept 28th. Nearly 100 posts with great images were created and ran for 24 hours across our social media channels. Though still compiling analytics, we want to extend our gratitude to groups and health systems from across globe for participating in this 24-hour educational event and making history with us. Some early insights indicate:
- We had participation from people in 37 countries
- Over 8.6 million people saw/read the posts
- Over 17,000 people interacted with the posts by clicking, liking, or sharing
Technology and Spanish Updates
Updated Technology Tab Table:
As part of our ongoing review, the popular Technology Tab table, Cancer Detection by Screening Method has just been updated. It complements the recently updated simplified patient Q+A table, If I have dense breasts and cancer might be missed on my mammogram, what else can I do?
Spanish Fact Sheet:
Hispanic people are the largest minority (62+ million) in the U.S. and make up the 13.5% of the U.S. population that speak Spanish at home. To address the educational needs of this community, DBI features a full suite of content in Spanish. Among patient Spanish-language tools is the just updated printable Spanish Patient Fact Sheet.
Patient Advisory Group (PAG) Launched
As it is important that patients have a voice at the table about the DB-i website, we have launched a PAG. Our PAG members provide their unique perspective on website content needs, understandability, and user experience. Notably, each PAG member contacted us after visiting the website as they were impressed with the depth and breadth of content. The PAG has been instrumental in content review as part of our health literacy project. Please see our Press Release about this DB-i initiative.
This ongoing effort will ensure that health professionals can feel confident about the relevancy and useability of the DB-i website as an educational resource for patients.
New U.S. Federal Law
The Making Advances in Mammography and Medical Options for Veterans Act (Public Law 117-135) tasks the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with developing a strategic plan for improving breast imaging services for veterans including the evolving needs of women veterans, geographic disparities of breast imaging, and the use of 3D tomosynthesis.