United Medical Center (UMC) is a non-profit, full-service community hospital serving Southeast Washington, D.C. and nearby Maryland communities. Though rich in African-American heritage, the community faces many economic challenges.

The benefits of computer-aided detection (CAD) for mammography images can be a polarizing topic for many radiologists. The technology has proven to be beneficial in detecting breast calcifications, and today’s CAD software has nearly perfect accuracy in detecting these calcifications. The software has also been noted to help inexperienced radiologists with detecting suspicious areas of breast tissue that may require special attention. However, CAD has not yet proven to be as accurate in its detection of tumors, and for radiologists with a more experienced eye, the software has not made itself as useful. CAD developers are making specific changes to the software that allows for increased visual clarity, context and medical history to make this technology more effective for radiologists across the board.

As a result of routine mammography screening, approximately 1.6 million breast biopsies are performed annually to determine whether a suspicious lesion is malignant or benign. Of these 1.6 million biopsies, approximately 20 percent will result in a positive cancer diagnosis.[1] These numbers are staggering alone, and are just the statistics for one out of more than 200 types of cancers. As radiologists, we strive to provide our patients with the best medical care available, but what we do not always think about is what happens after a sample leaves our office. Errors that occur in the biopsy diagnostic process are specific diagnostic errors that imaging professionals must address.

Defining disease processes by their cellular and molecular signatures has enabled molecular diagnosis and the development of targeted therapies, and advances in genomics offer promise for earlier disease detection and possibly molecular prevention. The field of molecular imaging is embracing these advances and is using a diverse set of molecular imaging strategies to interrogate disease states and physiology.