A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that a single reading of mammograms, coupled with computer-aided detection technology, can be an alternative to a double MD reading.

Professor Fiona Gilbert and colleagues from the University of Aberdeen published the report that stated a single trained expert plus a computer is just as effective at detecting breast cancer as the two experts who traditionally read a mammogram in the UK.

Since most readings in the United States and some other European countries require only a single expert to read mammograms, single readers using the computer aided detection program (CAD) will be even more effective at detecting breast cancer.
"The study has huge international significance," said Professor Gilbert, lead author of the study. "Using CAD is likely to improve breast cancer detection in those countries where only a single reader is used. In the UK, it will mean that the same number of experts can read more mammograms in a given period of time. We want to offer screening to a wider age group, those 47-50 years old and 70-73 years old, an increase of around 30 per cent. The national program screens over 1.7 million each year. This computer technology will help us achieve this."

The study invited around 28,000 women to have their mammograms read both in the conventional way by two radiologists and also by a single radiologist using the computer.

Researchers found that film readers using the computer-aided detection (CAD) program--where mammograms were read by a single expert plus the computer--was as good at finding cancers as the standard UK practice where two experts read each mammogram.

"Earlier studies had conflicting results about the success of the computer-aided readings. But this large study of 28,000 women carried out within the national program means we can now say for certain that this system is as good at detecting breast cancers the one used as standard practice," said Professor Stephen Duffy, Cancer Research UK's professor of cancer screening. "It means that the workload of radiologists and trained technicians who traditionally read all breast X-rays could be reduced by bringing in computers to help them."

Dr. Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK's director of information added, "This is good news for women--particularly for those who live in areas where invitations for screening have been late in arriving."

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