A new method of testing may have saved a woman's life from cancer.
Jennifer Hoeft was diagnosed with breast cancer last March. The 3-D mammography found an 8 millimeter tumor in her breast.
"I truly, truly believe that the 3-D mammogram is what caught my cancer early," Hoeft said.
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The Journal of the American Medical Association released a study confirming that adding 3-D technology to the standard digital mammogram increases cancer detection and decreases recall rates.
Dr. Sarah Friedewald worked on the study along with other co-authors. They examined both 2-D and 3-D mammograms from more than 450,000 patients across the country.
"We found invasive cancers, the ones that potentially kill people, more frequently in women who had the 3-D mammogram versus the women who just had the 2-D mammogram," Friedewald said.
Mammograms with 2-D technology have been criticized for being inaccurate, having sometimes produced false positives that suggest a woman has cancer when she actually does not. That can lead to unnecessary biopsies and over-diagnosis of cancer.
For Hoeft, she believes 3-D technology saved her life.
"Life is short," she said. "My life’s going to be long and full."
Dr. Bruce's advice: Further studies are needed to determine who can benefit the most from the 3-D technology. However, if you undergo a 2-D mammogram that looks suspicious or just isn’t clear, ask your doctor to add 3-D tests. Finding out if you have breast cancer early on could potentially save your life.
