According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about one in eight American women will get breast cancer during her life. Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women – skin cancer is first. Breast cancer is also the second leading cause of cancer death in women (behind lung cancer). It’s the leading cause of cancer death in the Hispanic population. This is particularly important for the women of San Antonio.
The ongoing battle to bring the number of breast cancer fatalities down has traditionally relied heavily on advancements in technology to allow the detection of breast cancer at increasingly earlier points in the disease process, thereby allowing for better survival rates.
One of the newest such advancements is digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), more commonly known as “3D mammography.” This technology, which is FDA approved and Medicare-reimbursed, allows breast radiologists to achieve earlier, more accurate tumor detection.
Justin E. Boatsman, MD, is a board-certified, fellowship-trained breast radiologist at South Texas Radiology Imaging Centers (STRIC) in San Antonio. He says the practice uses 3D mammography units exclusively, and he explains how 3D mammography differs from digital mammography.
“Digital mammography, or traditional two-D mammography, is basically taking a three-dimensional object – the breast – compressing it, and capturing an image,” he says. “The things that we look for in the breast tend to show up in the image as gray or white, similar to the breast tissue, so we have that one picture to try to find abnormalities of the breast that look similar to the surrounding tissue.
“With a three-D mammogram, instead of taking one straight-on picture, it takes a series of pictures at varying degrees. This approach brings out abnormalities of the breast and helps us distinguish what’s normal breast tissue from what’s not. Breast cancers can be highly variable in what they look like, so we want to have every tool available to help increase our accuracy and find cancers earlier and smaller, which gives us the best potential outcomes.”
STRIC is promoting the benefits of the 3D imaging technology through its “Cancer Can’t Hide” initiative. Now, those benefits are further enhanced by the newest advancement in breast imaging – artificial intelligence. AI technology is being used to assist breast radiologists in reading 3D mammograms and provide even earlier detection of breast cancer by identifying areas of concern that might not be discernable to the human eye.
“Three-D mammography was the most recent step forward,” describes Dr. Boatsman. “AI is the next step. We started using a state-of-the-art version of AI in our practice earlier this year, and it’s proven its effectiveness.
“When you talk about artificial intelligence in mammography, you’re really talking about a complementary tool. As far as we’ve come in detecting breast cancer, there are still areas that are challenging for us. AI helps us in those challenging areas, allowing us to be more confident when we’re looking at mammograms and empowering us to find cancers earlier and smaller. Ultimately, that’s going to lead to the best outcomes for our patients. In many cases, that includes the ability to utilize less invasive treatments and the realization of improved survival rates.”
Dr. Boatsman says he’s so glad that STRIC is using artificial intelligence to build on the power of 3D mammography. Screening mammography has been proven to save lives, he states, but it only works for the women who are going to STRIC and getting those crucial breast images taken.
“It’s getting close to October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” he concludes. “If you’ve never had a mammogram and you’re over age forty, or if you haven’t had one in a long time, this is the time to get it done. So many of the women in our lives take care of others but don’t take care of themselves. Today is the right time to schedule an appointment for a mammogram and start taking care of yourself.”
Please call (210) 617-9006 to schedule an appointment, or visit www.boutiquemammography.com to schedule an appointment online.
