3-D Mammograms Coming to a Hospital Near You

July 1, 2008 -- Remember peeking through a View-Master? Scientists are using the same concept behind the classic kids' toy to try to see mammograms in 3-D.

The goal: A better way to check for breast cancer in women with breasts too dense for today's mammograms to give a clear picture.

The technology is still experimental. But the research is being watched closely because the need is so great: Half of women younger than 50 and a third of women over 50 are estimated to have dense breasts.

In addition to a harder time viewing any brewing tumors, women with dense breasts have a higher risk of getting breast cancer, too.

Only a mammogram can tell if your breasts are made up more of dense or easier-to-examine fatty tissue. But if a doctor warns that you have dense breasts, there's little good advice on how to get a better cancer check today.

"It's a major issue in the field now, more and more, how to address the imaging needs of women with significant breast density," says American Cancer Society screening specialist Robert Smith. "We and women and everyone else is kind of left wondering what would be best under what circumstances."

But, "we can do better than we're doing," predicts Dr. Mary S. Newell, assistant breast-imaging chief at Emory University in Atlanta, who is testing the 3-D approach.

Mammograms are X-ray exams that hunt denser spots in normal breast tissue, shadows that might signal a tumor. Regular mammograms starting at age 40 help reduce deaths from breast cancer by finding tumors when they're smaller and more treatable.

They're far from perfect, however, and dense breasts may be the X-rays' biggest hurdle.

Some doctors already give women with dense breasts an ultrasound exam -- the same sound-wave test used to view a developing fetus -- in addition to a mammogram. A handful of studies conclude ultrasound improves cancer detection, but it remains controversial.