Date of Award
5-2019
Document Type
Scholarly Project
Degree Name
Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS)
Department
Physician Assistant Studies
First Advisor
Jay Metzger
Keywords
breast cancer screening, age 40 and older, 2D mammography, 3D mammography, and radiation dose mammography
Abstract
Breast cancer screening imaging options have progressed greatly over the years in sensitivity, specificity, and image quality. According to DynaMed Plus, in 2012 there were 522,000 deaths by breast cancer and 1,677,000 total cases of breast cancer documented (Dynamed, 2018). For years, traditional screening for breast cancer involved 2D digital mammography which obtains two views of each breast. With advances in technology, the use of 3D breast tomosynthesis has become an advantageous addition to routine breast cancer screening protocols at many health care facilities. My literature review of articles was found in PubMed, DynaMed Plus, Cochrane Library, and Clinical Key from the year 2011 and on. These articles and resources focus on the current recommendations for breast cancer screening. The benefits of 2D digital mammography alone, 3D breast tomosynthesis alone, and 2D digital mammography combined with 3D breast tomosynthesis are compared. This study also compares the differences in radiation dose of each imaging option. The research demonstrated that 2D digital mammography combined with 3D breast tomosynthesis offers the lowest recall rates, the highest sensitivity and specificity, and increases the effectiveness of breast cancer screening. The risk of this type of screening is the potential increase in radiation dose depending on the type of imaging system and the minimal increase in time the patient is under compression.
Recommended Citation
Swanson, Danielle M., "Benefits of 3D Breat Tinisynthesis Combined with 2D Digital Mammography in Screening Women for Breast Cancer" (2019). Physician Assistant Scholarly Project Papers. 56.
https://commons.und.edu/pas-grad-papers/56