A cost-effectiveness study of the value of digital mammography breast cancer screening has found that digital mammography screening does not result in sufficient health gains to warrant its increased cost unless its use is limited to younger women or to women with dense breasts. The study was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study was conducted as part of the Digital Mammography Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST) and involved more than 42,000 women in the United States and Canada through the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN).

Researchers found a nonsignificant tendency toward better breast cancer detection with conventional film mammography in older women with nondense breasts, and because of this finding, digital mammography screening for all age groups was not cost-effective.

SOURCES:
Annals of Internal Medicine, January 1, 2008
American College of Physicians (http://www.acponline.org)