Biomarker model predicts breast cancer risk without racial bias

CHICAGO -- A new breast cancer risk assessment technique that uses mammography biomarkers shows no racial bias, according to research presented November 29 at the RSNA meeting.The findings offer another way to foster breast cancer early detection, improve patient survival rates across different populations, and reduce disparity in survival rates, said study lead author Leslie Lamb, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston in a statement. “In the domain of precision medicine, risk-based screening has been elusive because we have not been able to accurately evaluate a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer,” Lamb said. “Even the best existing traditional risk models do not perform well on the individual level.” However, mammograms contain highly predictive biomarkers of future cancer risk.Black women demonstrate the lowest five-year relative survival rate for breast cancer among all racial and ethnic groups, a statistic that translates to a 6% to 8% disparity in five-year survival rates between Black and white women across all breast cancer types.One reason for this disparity may be that traditional models likely have racial biases due to the populations on which the models were developed, according to Lamb. It is important that risk models are developed that are applicable across different populations, she added, noting that several of the commonly used models were developed on predominantly Caucasian populations.Lamb and colleagues sought to assess t...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Subspecialties Womens Imaging Breast Imaging RSNA 2023 Source Type: news