WLWT: A change in mammography standards could help save lives
A new Food and Drug Administration policy will soon require health care providers to tell women if they have dense breast tissue, a trait that can make cancer harder to detect. The move is aimed to support prevention, early detection and treatment of breast cancer.
The announcement also follows advocacy from patients, lawmakers and University of Cincinnati Cancer Center physicians that led to the passage of Ohio House Bill 371, which requires insurance companies to cover additional screenings for individuals who are at high risk for breast cancer or have dense breast tissue.
Erich J. Boomgarden, MD, assistant professor in UC's College of Medicine and a UC Health radiologist, told WLWT mammography is still the standard of care, but additional MRI or ultrasound screenings can help see through dense breast tissue.
"If you get your screening mammogram, and assuming it comes back negative, meaning there was nothing suspicious in there, we would recommend getting a supplemental screening in six months," Boomgarden said. "We do that because it's helpful for us because again, by staggering it that way, then anything that may be developing, between the screening mammogram and MRI hopefully will be detected sooner then."
Featured photo at top of a 3D mammogram machine. Photo/Colleen Kelley/UC Marketing + Brand.
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?
November 10, 2025
The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.