BBC - Radio 4 Woman's Hour -Computers Assist in Screening for Breast Cancer

A revolutionary way to read mammograms with the help of a computer could free up time for hundreds of medical experts and so speed the breast screening process.

Cancer Research scientists have found that the workload of radiologists - who read breast x- rays - could be almost halved by using computers to detect cancer. New results show that mammograms read by a single expert as well as a computer are just as accurate as those read by two experts. And in some cases the new combination could be even more successful.

The computer aided detection (CAD) programme scans the mammograms for suspicious features or irregularities that could be caused by tumours. When the computer finds anything unusual it indicates the irregularity on a screen for the radiologist to check.

Researchers took more than 10,000 mammograms that had previously each been read by two radiologists. These mammograms were read again by a single radiologist who was prompted by the computer to double check suspicious areas for any abnormalities. The results showed that the cancer detection rate was at least as good as the traditional method.

Professor Stephen Duffy of Cancer Research Uk who worked on the study joins Jenni to discuss the implications.

Cancer Research UK
Cancer Help UK
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