3D Mammogram

3D Mammograms improves breast cancer screening: Introducing SJMC’s Tomosynthesis service.

3D Mammogram or more commonly called Digital Breast Tomosynthesis was approved by FDA in 2011 and since then many studies has shown the benefits of this new technology and its role in improving breast cancer screening.

SJMC has installed the latest Hologic Selenia Tomosynthesis system in Mediplex Health Screening Centre in early March 2020 to provide high quality breast screening & diagnostic services to the community.

Digital Mammogram in 2D was a good breast cancer screening tool for many years but it has some shortcomings. Digital Breast Tomosynthesis has proven that it can overcome issues arising from Digital Mammogram including high incidence of too many false positives & false negatives and too few cancers detected. The advantages of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis include:

1. Better patient comfort with reduction of breast compression with less pressure applied-just enough to keep the breast in a stable position during procedure
2. Multiple x-ray pictures of each breast from many angles in an arc around the breast to produce clear, focused 3D images throughout the breast
3. Rapid 3.7 second scan time for greater patient comfort and low patient dose, due to the elimination of 2D X-ray exposures. The system produces high quality 2D images reconstructed from tomosynthesis data using special software.
4. Improved Cancer Detection Rate especially amongst women with dense breasts commonly found in the Asian population.

SJMC’s new Digital Breast Tomosynthesis system

Screening recommendation for general population (MOH Clinical Practice Guidelines: Management of Breast Cancer 2nd Edition, Nov 2010)

RECOMMENDATION

• Mammography may be performed biennially in women from 50 - 74 years of age. (Grade A)
• Breast cancer screening using mammography in low and intermediate risk women aged 40 - 49 years old should not be offered routinely (Grade A)
• Women aged 40 - 49 years should not be denied mammography screening if they desire to do so. (Grade C)
• BSE is recommended for raising awareness among women at risk rather than as a screening method. (Grade C)