Researchers Develop New Technology to Detect Breast Cancer

Though screening for breast cancer through mammograms can be uncomfortable, expensive and potentially risky, new technology being developed by a team of scientists may help offset those concerns.

Scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are now collaborating to develop ultrasound-computed tomography to better screen for breast cancer. The effort is led by the Detroit-based Karmanos Cancer Institute.

The new technology uses ultrasound elements to gather data in order to create digital pictures of different parts of the breast. The data is then converted into high-resolution images and pieced together into a three-dimensional picture of the breast.

According to Peter Littrup, director of radiology research and interventional oncology at the Karmanos Institute and one of the inventors of the new ultrasound method, current mammograms miss up to 50 percent of tumors in those with dense breasts or breasts with a lot of tissue.

"The mammogram does a good job when it can see it but they are missing 20 to 30 percent of cancers in the population out there," he said. "It is a matter of catching things that are being missed."

One in eight women is diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and 98 percent of individuals diagnosed with cancer in its early stages survive for at least five years, according to the American Cancer Society.

Though MRIs, the alternative procedure for detecting breast cancer, are better at reducing the rate of missed tumors in high-risk women, they are more expensive, Littrup said.

Current mammograms cost between $50 to $200, while an average MRI can cost about $2,000, he said. He added that the cost of ultrasound-computed tomography has not been determined.

"Consider this a poor man's MRI," he said. "We are generating images that are approaching MRI quality."

The new system has no health risks and can be performed more often due to the lack of radiation, said Olsi Rama, project manager at the institute.

"One-third of women are not going to get mammograms routinely," Littrup said. "Part of that is culture and part of that is fear. If you can make the test more comfortable, accessible and (better at) not missing cancers, that's where you can have a real significant impact."

The ultrasound-computed tomography takes one minute to scan and the results come within minutes, unlike the MRI, which lasts about half an hour, Rama said. It also requires fewer operators, allowing a larger number of people to be scanned more often.

The technology does not compress the breast during the exam, which is the main complaint among women who undergo mammograms, Littrup said.

"The earlier breast cancer is found, the better the chances that treatment will work," she said.

Tags: BREAST CANCER, LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATINOAL LABORATORY