• In a new, souped-up ultrasound procedure called elasticity imaging, doctors move a probe over a suspicious lump, creating multiple images and sending the data through special software. The computer analyzes the pictures and determines if the mass is soft or hard, a good indication of whether the lump is cancer (harmless cysts and calcifications are usually soft). Elastograms on 635 women predicted cancer 98.6% of the time, helping to avoid biopsies. That's better than mammograms or MRIs, says lead study author Richard G. Barr, a radiologist at Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy.
Available: Now
• A combination of low-radiation CT scan and nuclear molecular imaging (the kind used to look at blood flow in the heart) can provide 3-D images of the breast without compression and find lesions half the size of those typically found in mammograms. The patient lies facedown with her breasts through a cutout on the exam table, and the hybrid machine circles underneath. Martin Tornai, PhD, of Duke University, says this technology could also be used to monitor how well chemo drugs are shrinking a tumor.
Available: 5 years


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