DBI Research

DBI Study and Article, New Research

August 28, 2023 by Dense Breast Info

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.

Patient Equity, New Research, CSBI Position Statement

January 30, 2023 by Dense Breast Info

Patient Equity: Density Inform and Insurance
Will 2023 be the year that both a national reporting standard and a federal insurance mandate for no-cost additional imaging become a reality in the U.S.? Just published in ITNonline, “Creating Patient Equity: A Breast Density Legislative Update.”

New Research
Just out in JAMA Network, Perceptions of Breast Cancer Risks Among Women Receiving Mammograph Screening, which suggests that understanding of breast density’s contribution to breast cancer risk remains underappreciated by many women.

DBI’s own research published in 2021, Effect of an educational intervention on women’s healthcare provider knowledge gaps about breast density, breast cancer risk, and screening, found important knowledge gaps on the same topic among women’s healthcare providers. For instance, only 29.4% knew risk increases with increasing glandular tissue.

Canada
The Canadian Society of Breast Imaging has just issued a new Position Statement on Breast Arterial Calcification Reporting on Mammography.

New Research

January 16, 2023 by Dense Breast Info

Topic: Tech Performed Handheld Ultrasound After 3D
Just published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, authored by Dr. Wendie Berg, and coauthored by Dr. Marcela Böhm-Vélez and others, Prospective Multicenter Diagnostic Performance of Technologist-Performed Screening Breast Ultrasound after Tomosynthesis in Women with Dense Breasts (the DBTUST).

The prospective multicenter study of technologist-performed handheld ultrasound screening after 3D mammography showed a modest added cancer detection rate from ultrasound of about 1 cancer per thousand screens each year for three years and 4% added false positive rate. Many cancers missed initially were visible on targeted ultrasound, and other studies using automated ultrasound or physician-performed ultrasound, and studies in Asia and Canada have shown higher added cancer detection rates from ultrasound. Contrast-enhanced approaches such as MRI or CEM are expected to produce far greater cancer detection. Many women cannot tolerate or access contrast-enhanced approaches and ultrasound is then a good option.

Topic: Knowledge Gaps About Breast Cancer Risk Model Use/High-risk Screening
DBI’s third research project just out in the Journal of Breast Imaging, Effect of an Educational Intervention on Women’s Health Care Provider Knowledge Gaps About Breast Cancer Risk Model Use and High-risk Screening Recommendations.

The research shows that important knowledge gaps regarding appropriate use of the Gail model versus the Tyrer-Cuzick model exist, and providers were unclear about what types of imaging to recommend for screening women at high risk of breast cancer. Nearly all knowledge gaps significantly reduced after web-based education based on DenseBreast-info.org content and reviewed in our CME course, Dense Breasts and Supplemental Screening.

Spotlight on DB-i Research and Article Updates

October 12, 2020 by Dense Breast Info

DB-i Research on Referring Provider Knowledge Gaps:
Interested in key findings of DB-i’s second* research project on referring provider knowledge gaps? DB-i’s Director of Education and Epidemiology Research, Robin Seitzman, PhD, MPH, will present “Referring Healthcare Provider Knowledge Gaps about Breast Density, Breast Cancer Risk, and Screening” on Oct 14th at the Why Study Mammographic Density? Conference 2020 (conference begins Oct 12th). The research will be submitted for publication shortly.

Risk Model Tutorial:
We have been on an update roll! One of our recently updated and most referenced sections is the Risk Model Tutorial (European guests, please click HERE). The section includes details on how the risk models are used, risk model explanations, diagnostic considerations, and a risk model table which includes live links to each model. The latest content update is on AI use in risk models (within the Risk Model Explanation section).

*First research project: Radiologic Technologist and Radiologist Knowledge Gaps about Breast Density Revealed by an Online Continuing Education Course

DB-i Research Interest And Medical Advisory Board News

August 17, 2020 by Dense Breast Info

DB-i Research:

The publication of DB-i’s first research project, Radiologic Technologist and Radiologist Knowledge Gaps about Breast Density Revealed by an Online Continuing Education Course was the subject of articles in AuntMinnie and DOTmed Health Care Business.

As a woman’s breast imaging team and referring provider are often both involved in her mammogram and supplemental screening decisions, DB-i’s second study focused on identifying knowledge gaps among referring providers (details to follow).

Medical Advisory Board News:

Stuart Kaplan, MD, FACR, FSBI, has new research published in The Breast Journal, COVID-19 on breast imaging case volumes in South Florida. A multicenter study.

Paula Gordon, OBC, MD, FRCPC, FSBI, medical advisor to both DB-i and advocacy group Dense Breasts Canada, was interviewed by CBC News: Dense Breasts Canada urges P.E.I. to take more steps to detect cancer.

World Dense Breast Day Incredible Success! More HERE.

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