Study: Computers Help Detect Cancer
By LINDSEY TANNER
.c The Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) - Using computers to double-check mammograms can increase the
detection of cancers by 20 percent, according to a study that supports early
predictions for the new technology.
The findings based on mammograms given to nearly 13,000 women suggest the
technology can help radiologists find breast cancers earlier while improving
their accuracy. Radiologists miss about one in five breast cancers.
``The reason is because the signs can be so extremely subtle,'' said Dr.
Timothy W. Freer, who presented his findings Tuesday at the Radiology Society
of North America's annual meeting. ``Computer-assisted detection helps us
recognize those signs, such as minute calcium deposits, or very subtle masses
or changes in architecture.''
The $200,000 ImageChecker system used in the study was approved by the Food
and Drug Administration two years ago based on preliminary research showing
success rates similar to Freer's. It is the only such technology with that
approval.
The system works with the regular X-ray image taken in a mammogram. The film
is run through a computer processor that creates a digital image. The
computer, ``trained to recognize certain subtle patterns,'' scans the image
and marks suspicious-looking areas, Freer said.
``That invites us to take a closer look,'' he said.
In the study of 12,860 women screened at the Women's Diagnostic & Breast
Health Center in Plano, 49 unsuspected cancers were detected, including eight
picked up by ImageChecker that the radiologist had missed. All eight were in
very early stages, when they are most easily treated.
``Computers don't get tired like people do,'' said Dr. Stephen Feig,
professor of radiology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
``Still, it's going to be up to a radiologist to decide whether something
found by a computer needs to be biopsied,'' said Feig, who was not involved
in the research.
The number of women asked to return to the radiologist for more tests and the
biopsy rates also increased by 20 percent in Freer's study. Though some of
those were false alarms, the increases were proportional to the increases in
cancer detection and were thus considered acceptable, said Freer, director of
the Plano center.
More research is needed before such computer-assisted methods can be
recommended as a routine screening tool, Feig said.
Only about 150 units are used worldwide, Freer said. But even if other
studies find similar results, cost likely will impede widespread use of
computer-assisted detection.
Mammograms typically cost between $75 and $150. At large centers,
computer-assisted detection could add as little as $15 to the tab. But at
smaller centers, costs could be substantially more, Freer said.
``It might be more encouraging for people to practice mammography if they
know they can be more accurate in reading a very difficult exam,'' he said.
On the Net:
National Cancer Institute: http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/5-28.htm
American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org
AP-NY-11-28-00 1031EST
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news
report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed
without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active
hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
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