Does digital mammography find DCIS sooner?
Cecilia Brennecke, M.D.: X-ray mammography is the cornerstone screening method when it comes to finding cancer early. Digital mammography produces an X-ray image using digital technology, which is more like a TV monitor. The standard way of producing an X-ray image uses film, which is more like a movie. Film produces an image that is a little bit sharper than a digital image. Digital is still new, and companies that make the equipment want radiologists to buy it. When General Electric came out with the first digital equipment, the company did a lot of advertising, particularly during the Olympics, making all sorts of claims such as digital is the only way to go. A lot of people who were watching believed what they were hearing from GE. However there’s a study that’s currently underway in which each woman who signs up has a mammogram with film followed by a digital mammogram. Both mammograms are done during the same visit and compared. The study is showing that there are fewer recalls w
