BY MONIFA THOMAS Health Reporter/mjthomas@suntimes.com Combining a mammogram with an ultrasound exam is more effective than mammography alone at detecting breast cancer in women at high risk for the disease, according to a study published in today's...

A novel study by US researchers has found that the combination of ultrasounds & mammograms helps doctors more in finding breast cancers than mammograms alone. However according to experts, the combination leads to many more unnecessary biopsies thus it is not recommended to most patients.

The study published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association focused on women at high risk, such as those who have had previous breast tumors.

The researchers studied more than 2,600 women and found that mammograms detected cancer in eight out of 1,000 women screened.

Financed by the Avon Foundation and the National Cancer Institute, the study articulated that an ultrasound lets doctors find cancer in 12 out of 1,000. The study however found that ultra-sensitive tests had drawbacks.

Source: TopNews