• AI
  • Molecular Imaging
  • CT
  • X-Ray
  • Ultrasound
  • MRI
  • Facility Management
  • Mammography

A reply from Dr. Leonard Berlin

Publication
Article
Diagnostic ImagingDiagnostic Imaging Vol 31 No 12
Volume 31
Issue 12

Dr. Kopans criticizes me and others for being “unable to break free of doubts” about the efficacy of mammography and says those who suggest there is ambiguity in its benefit are using “unscientific data analyses” and “scientifically unsupportable” data that have “been manipulated to generate doubt.”

Dr. Kopans criticizes me and others for being “unable to break free of doubts” about the efficacy of mammography and says those who suggest there is ambiguity in its benefit are using “unscientific data analyses” and “scientifically unsupportable” data that have “been manipulated to generate doubt.”

Despite these assertions, there are credible questions about mammography. Just this year there have been a plethora of articles in various medical journals that highlight such potential downsides of screening mammography as overdiagnosis. As Dartmouth professor H. Gilbert Welch wrote in a British Medical Journal editorial this past July, overdiagnosis is a “vexing problem,” and causes some women to undergo unnecessary treatment. Welch, however, does not disparage mammography; instead, he writes, “Mammography is one of medicine's 'close calls'-a delicate balance between benefits and harms-where different people in the same situation might reasonably make different choices. Mammography undoubtedly helps some women but hurts others. No right answer exists; instead it is a personal choice.”

As I wrote in my April 2009 Diagnostic Imaging article, I believe there is sufficient, albeit not incontrovertible, evidence that mammography does reduce mortality from breast cancer, and that radiologists and other physicians should, after discussing both the pros and the cons of screening, encourage but not coerce women to undergo annual screening mammography. At the same time, however, acknowledging rather than denying the existence of controversies regarding mammography will assist the public at large to develop a realistic appraisal of mammography's role with regard to breast cancer.

Recent Videos
Computed Tomography Study Shows Emergence of Silicosis in Engineered Stone Countertop Workers
Can an Emerging AI Software for DBT Help Reduce Disparities in Breast Cancer Screening?
Skeletal Muscle Loss and Dementia: What Emerging MRI Research Reveals
Magnetoencephalopathy Study Suggests Link Between Concussions and Slower Aperiodic Activity in Adolescent Football Players
Radiology Study Finds Increasing Rates of Non-Physician Practitioner Image Interpretation in Office Settings
Assessing a Landmark Change in CMS Reimbursement for Diagnostic Radiopharmaceuticals
Addressing the Early Impact of National Breast Density Notification for Mammography Reports
2 KOLs are featured in this series.
2 KOLs are featured in this series.
Can 18F-Floutufolastat Bolster Detection of PCa Recurrence in Patients with Low PSA Levels After Radical Prostatectomy?
Related Content
© 2024 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.