Study finds recently trained radiologists best at reading mammograms.

2003 MAR 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Practice may not make perfect when it comes to spotting cancer on mammograms.

A new study casts doubt on the belief that doctors who read the most mammograms each year are the most proficient. Instead, the research found the most recently trained radiologists did best in a test of cancer-detection accuracy.

Other factors that may give a more reliable mammogram: using a center that requires two radiologists to read each X-ray, and that performs more sophisticated breast-imaging procedures as well as routine mammograms, concluded the study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Study author Craig Beam of the University of South Florida stressed that his findings don't mean a doctor fresh out of school does a better job than a seasoned veteran. But they do raise questions about how some veterans keep up as the years pass.

"There seems to be some loss of skills across time that's not being recognized," he said. "Let's figure out how to keep the skills sharp."

The study is surprising, and conflicts with other research, cautioned Dr. Joann Elmore of the University of Washington, in an accompanying editorial.

Mammograms are considered the best tool available for spotting breast cancer early, when it's most treatable. But they're not perfect. One reason is that they require someone to decide that an often blurry spot on the X-ray is suspicious enough to biopsy - without subjecting too many women to unnecessary false alarms.