Digital breast tomosynthesis (3D-mammography) screening: A pictorial review of screen-detected cancers and false recalls attributed to tomosynthesis in prospective screening trials

Abstract

This pictorial review highlights cancers detected only at tomosynthesis screening and screens falsely recalled in the course of breast tomosynthesis screening, illustrating both true-positive (TP) and false-positive (FP) detection attributed to tomosynthesis. Images and descriptive data were used to characterise cases of screen-detection with tomosynthesis, sourced from prospective screening trials that performed standard (2D) digital mammography (DM) and tomosynthesis (3D-mammography) in the same screening participants. Exemplar cases from four trials highlight common themes of relevance to screening practice including: the type of lesions frequently made more conspicuous or perceptible by tomosynthesis (spiculated masses, and architectural distortions); the histologic findings (both TP and FP) of tomosynthesis-only detection; and the need to extend breast work-up protocols (additional imaging including ultrasound and MRI, and tomosynthesis-guided biopsy) if tomosynthesis is adopted for primary screening.

Keywords: Breast cancer detection; Cancer screening; Digital breast tomosynthesis; False-positive recall; Mammography; Population screening.