Etta Pisano, M.D.

Imaging centers across the country are adding three-dimensional (3D) mammography to the traditional 2D offering for its proven ability to better detect cancers. But, what’s less understood is its accuracy in detecting more advanced forms of cancer.

A recent Kaiser Health News article reports these facilities are on the rise as there are now 3,915 certified mammography imaging facilities that offered 3D mammography, or digital breast tomosynthesis—an increase from 3,011 facilities the previous January.

While this new imaging modality has demonstrated enhanced capability in detecting cancers than 2D imaging, it is not yet known if this new technology can more accurately detect advanced cancers that will become deadly… Continue reading.

Doctors and researchers around the world are looking to improve the prevention, detection, and treatment of breast cancer. In recent years, the advancements in technology, specifically in detection methods, have demonstrated significant improvement in how early patients are diagnosed and treated.

Mammograms are the most common and well-known breast cancer detection method; however, they are often an uncomfortable process and are not always completely accurate. According to the American Cancer Society, false-negative results—when the mammogram looks normal although breast cancer is present—are fairly common, as screening mammograms do not find about 1 in 5 breast cancers. False-positive results—when a mammogram looks abnormal though there is no cancer present—are also common and require additional testing, at additional costs…. Continue reading.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) has announced the appointment of Etta D. Pisano, MD, as chief science officer of the ACR Center for Research and Innovation.

Pisano’s career has led to academic appointments including: founding chief of breast imaging in the department of radiology and vice dean for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine; dean of the Medical School at the University of South Carolina; and most recently vice chair of research in the department of radiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and professor at Harvard.

In parallel, Pisano has led landmark clinical research trials studies while serving as the chair of the ACRIN Breast Imaging Committee (1998-2008) and Principal Investigator of the Digital Mammography Screening Trial (DMIST). DMIST accrued 49,528 women in a study comparing digital to film mammography, the results of which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005 and which changed the breast cancer screening guidelines and reimbursement… Continue reading.