“One in every eight women will get breast cancer. The idea is screening to look for early disease,” said Winifred Leung, M.D., of Santa Barbara Women’s Imagining Center.
Tomosynthesis, a 3D breast screening, was approved by the FDA in 2011 and has since made its way to breast radiology offices across the country. Santa Barbara Women’s Imaging Center, office of Dr. Leung and Judy C. Dean, M.D., began using tomosynthesis in 2012. For some time, the Santa Barbara doctors were the only practitioners on the central coast to offer 3D breast screenings.
Mammography has been used widely since the 1980s, leading to a 30-percent reduction in breast cancer deaths. However, tomosynthesis reduces those numbers even further. In her recent feature in Santa Barbara Family and Life Magazine, Dr. Leung, who also serves on the Santa Barbara Breast Care Alliance advisory board, cited studies presenting a 25-percent increase in cancer detection and a 40-percent decrease on false possibilities and false “recalls,” meaning patients must return for further examination, when using tomosynthesis instead of mammography. Additionally, Dr. Leung referenced studies by Dr. Per Skane stating that the extended clarity and improved precision tomosynthesis provides benefits 90 percent of women.