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Has Breast Cancer Mortality Bottomed Out? | HIMSS News
March 6, 2025
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Together with
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“If you’re a radiology scientist not working on AI, or a radiologist not considering AI adoption, you’re missing out on the biggest shift in the history of radiology.”
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Amine Korchi, MD, in a review of AI presentations at ECR 2025.
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The decades-long decline in breast cancer mortality has been lauded as a major public health success story. But a new study in Journal of Breast Imaging suggests that the long decline in breast cancer death rates may be coming to an end, at least for some women.
Breast cancer mortality’s drop has been well-documented, with studies estimating the drop to range between 44% to 58% over the last three to four decades – saving at least 500k lives.
- Most experts believe the breast cancer mortality decline has been driven by a combination of organized mammography screening and better cancer treatments.
But amid the success are disturbing signs. Cancer incidence rates are increasing for women younger than 40 – the established starting age for screening.
- Mammography screening also has seen disparities in care that have resulted in higher incidence and death rates for women of color.
In the new study, researchers examined U.S. data for breast cancer mortality from 1990 to 2022, finding that over the study period breast cancer mortality …
- Fell by 44% for women of all ages and ethnicities over the full study period.
- Decreased by -1.7% to -3.3% annually from 1990 to 2010, but the decline slowed to -1.2% a year from 2010 to 2022.
- Declined -2.8% per year for women 20-39 years old from 1990-2010, but showed no decline from 2010-2022.
- Lowered by -1.3% per year for women older than 75 from 1993-2014, but showed no decline from 2013-2022.
- Declined for White and Black women of all ages, but not for Asian, Hispanic, and Native American women.
- Was 39% higher for Black women compared to White women from 2004-2022.
The authors acknowledge that much of their data pertain to women who are outside current screening guidelines.
- But they see this as an opportunity to revisit whether screening guidelines should be extended – especially to women 75 and older – to realize the benefits of early breast cancer detection.
The Takeaway
The new findings on breast cancer mortality indicate that even as mammography’s successes are celebrated, more work remains to be done to ensure that breast screening’s benefits are enjoyed by as many women as possible.
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AI for Pediatric Fracture Detection
Pediatric fractures are common but can be easily missed on radiography. Meanwhile, AI tools for fracture detection have mostly been tested in adults. Learn how Gleamer’s BoneView AI solution helped clinicians find fractures in kids in a recent research study.
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Answers in Sight at HIMSS 2025
Join Intelerad at HIMSS 2025 to explore how they are redefining healthcare imaging with innovative solutions designed to provide a clear path to answers. Book a meeting today or drop by at booth #1048.
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- GE Launches Genesis Cloud Offerings: GE HealthCare launched a new line of cloud-based enterprise imaging solutions called Genesis at this week’s HIMSS 2025. Genesis offerings focus on workflow optimization and efficiency and will include tools for edge computing, storage, vendor-neutral archives, and data migration. Genesis solutions will be based on the Amazon Web Services cloud platform, with data migration offered through a partnership with Enlitic that was announced last month. GE said it plans to triple its offerings of cloud-enabled products by 2028.
- CAC Scores Guide Lipid Lowering: Patients who saw their own coronary artery calcium scores were more likely to comply with cholesterol-lowering therapy than those who didn’t. In the CAUGHT-CAD study of 365 patients in JAMA, Australian researchers used CAC scores to guide lipid-lowering prevention strategies for half of participants, finding that after three years those with CAC-guided prevention had a bigger decline in total cholesterol (-56 vs. -3 mg/dL) and slower growth of noncalcified plaque volume (15 vs. 25 mm3) than those who got usual care.
- Cleerly’s Cardiac Alliance with Bunkerhill: Cleerly and Bunkerhill Health partnered to integrate each company’s technology for coronary artery disease and risk assessment. Bunkerhill’s Careblocks solution will be integrated with Cleerly’s software for analyzing plaque burden from coronary CT angiography scans to give users more flexibility for assessing CAD. One use case could be detection of coronary artery calcium on routine chest CT scans using Careblocks, with patients referred to Cleerly scans for workup.
- Opportunistic Screening’s Savings: Using CT to opportunistically screen people for osteoporosis could double current screening rates and save up to $2.5B in healthcare costs across Medicare. That’s according to an analysis in JACR by researchers from Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute, who found that among 2.9M eligible Medicare beneficiaries studied, only 20% had received DEXA scans but many more received CT scans for other clinical indications that could be analyzed for osteoporosis. Opportunistic CT could also be used alongside DEXA to boost screening.
- New RamSoft Partners: RamSoft is using this week’s HIMSS 2025 meeting to unveil several new partnerships. RamSoft and NewVue.ai announced a new strategic reseller partnership in which RamSoft will integrate NewVue’s Empower Suite into its PowerServer and OmegaAI RIS/PACS and offer the combined solution to its installed base. Separately, RamSoft signed a deal with iCAD that enables it to sell iCAD’s ProFound AI Breath Health Suite to users in North America.
- Breast Screening Rebounds Post-COVID: Breast screening rates fell during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a new survey in JAMA found they have bounced back nicely since then and have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Researchers found that among 6.8k eligible women, screening prevalence rates fell from 60% in 2019 to 57% in 2021, but bounced back to 65% in 2023, and women were 7% more likely to be screened in 2023 versus 2019 and 14% versus 2021. Colorectal screening also rebounded, but cervical cancer screening has not.
- Breast Density Explained for Patients: How should clinicians communicate information about breast density to patients? In an article this week in JAMA, Christoph Lee, MD, and Joann Elmore, MD, offer a summary about breast density designed to help clinicians comply with FDA breast density notification rules that went into effect in September 2024. The article covers breast density’s connection to cancer risk, its negative effect on the accuracy of X-ray mammography, and which women should receive supplemental imaging.
- Cath Lab Occupational Hazards: A new study finds that working in cardiac catheterization labs is still an occupational hazard to healthcare professionals, despite years of risk awareness. Researchers from the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions compared results from cath lab personnel surveys from 2014 to 2023, finding over 60% of respondents experienced orthopedic injuries from wearing lead aprons and 6% reported cancer diagnoses – far exceeding normal rates. Among women, 28% were discouraged from working in cath labs due to pregnancy.
- Philips Manages Angio System Recall: Philips issued new product instructions for its Allura and Azurion angiography systems to prevent patient falls due to incorrectly positioned mattresses. The FDA noted that incorrect positioning during patient transfers and other routine use could cause patients to fall from tables, and listed instructions from Philips to prevent such events. While the agency listed the action as a class I recall – the most serious type – and there have been five injuries, it noted no systems were being removed from the field.
- Optellum Allies with Volpara: Optellum partnered with Volpara Health to make its Virtual Nodule Clinic risk analysis software available to Volpara’s customer base. Optellum’s lung cancer prediction solution complements Volpara’s breast imaging tools, giving Volpara users access to tools for nodule assessment and managing lung nodules found on CT exams.
- 3DR Labs Partners with Strings: A new partnership between 3DR Labs and Strings aims to deliver Strings’ workload monitoring and optimization solution to users of 3DR’s 3D post-processing services. Strings will be used in 3DR’s labs to bring AI-powered workflow automation to 3D advanced visualization.
- Fovia Gets Clearance for Lung Nodule App: Fovia Ai received FDA 510(k) clearance for F.A.S.T. aiCockpit, its solution for visualizing and managing lung nodules found on CT exams. The offering optimizes lung nodule workflows by giving radiologists a single tool for interacting with AI results from multiple different algorithms. The software can be embedded within existing PACS, universal viewers, and AI platforms, and will be one module within Fovia’s F.A.S.T. aiCockpit Universal AI Viewer the company is developing.
- Visage Scores $25M Contract: Visage Imaging landed a $25M contract to provide its enterprise image management software to LucidHealth, an Ohio-based provider of radiology and outpatient imaging services. LucidHealth will install the Visage 7 enterprise image management platform to replace its existing legacy PACS at 140 sites staffed by over 300 radiologists. The contract continues a string of large installations secured by Visage in the past year.
- Fujifilm Signs AWS for Cloud Hosting: Fujifilm Healthcare Americas signed Amazon Web Services as its cloud hosting partner for medical imaging. Fujifilm and AWS will work together to provide cloud hosting services to users of Fujifilm’s Synapse enterprise PACS software, including Synapse VNA. In other Fujifilm news, the company signed an extension with Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey to add its Synapse Cardiology PACS solution to its existing Synapse Radiology installation.
- ScImage Adds AI Support to PACS: ScImage is adding support for AI to its PICOM365 enterprise image management PACS solution. The company’s PICOM365 Universal AI Connectivity Foundation is a plug-and-play platform that enables users to integrate AI into their daily workflows, with support for AI-based reporting, user workflow, and operational insights.
- iCAD Partners with Koios: iCAD and Koios Medical unveiled a strategic reseller partnership at last week’s ECR 2025 conference. The companies will integrate iCAD’s ProFound AI Breast Health Suite with Koios SmartUltrasound AI analysis software to give users an AI solution that supports both mammography and breast ultrasound.
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2 Questions about AI for Radiology Leaders
Are today’s radiology AI solutions solving the right problems? And are there other solutions available for AI of brain MRI? Read this article from SpinTech MRI to learn how its STAGE solution can optimize MRI utilization.
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Challenges and Opportunities in Radiology
In this episode of Medality’s The Radiology Report podcast, Medality Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Arnold interviews Glenn Kaplan, MD, about the challenges and opportunities in radiology, including workforce shortages and capacity issues, and possible solutions.
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Integrating AI into Clinical Practice
AI has the potential to revolutionize healthcare, but it requires a collaborative effort between clinicians and AI experts. In this micro-learning course from Calantic by Bayer, learn about the latest developments in healthcare AI.
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- Visit AGFA at HIMSS 2025: AGFA HealthCare will be showcasing its latest innovations in cloud-based enterprise imaging at the upcoming HIMSS 2025 conference in Las Vegas. Schedule a visit to AGFA’s booth #5027 to see how the company is reshaping and simplifying medical image management.
- A New Benchmark for Tomo Imaging: There’s a new benchmark for digital breast tomosynthesis 3D images with MAMMOMAT B.brilliant from Siemens Healthineers. The system’s 50° wide-angle tomosynthesis helps you achieve excellent outcomes for your patients, radiologists, and breast care professionals.
- Harnessing the Power of AI to Improve Patient Care: Endeavor Health is one of the first healthcare providers in the Midwest to use AI in the echocardiography lab. Learn how they are harnessing echo AI’s tremendous potential to improve diagnostic capabilities and help patients on this page from Us2.ai.
- Time to Address Radiologist Burnout and Inefficient Workflows: Mach7’s new UnityVue radiology solution is a comprehensive reading platform combining enterprise imaging, workflow orchestration, AI-driven decision support, and the tools your team needs to thrive. See for yourself on March 26 in a live product demonstration by the Mach7 team.
- Enhance Efficiency, Enhance Care: Find out how Optum’s cloud platform integrates effortlessly with your existing systems, boosting both care and efficiency. Visit now!
- Imaging Workflows that Actually Work: Not a fan of medical image exchange on discs? Then check out Clearpath and find out how it’s removing obstacles to better radiology workflow. Request a demo today.
- Catch What You’ve Missed on Unboxing AI: Missed an episode of Unboxing AI, CARPL’s video series on AI in radiology? Check out all the past episodes on their YouTube channel.
- The Clinical Value of Soft-Tissue Chest X-Ray: Soft-tissue techniques can improve the visibility and accuracy of chest X-ray. Learn about two important soft-tissue methods – bone suppression and dual-energy subtraction – in this white paper from Riverain Technologies.
- Learn to Unlock Your Data at HIMSS 2025: Meet with Enlitic at HIMSS 2025 booth #1965 and learn how to unlock the power of your medical imaging data with their solutions, including ENDEX for data standardization, ENCOG for anonymization, and Migratek for anonymization.
- Smarter Strategies to Close Care Gaps: Learn strategies to close care gaps, enhance patient satisfaction, and drive cost savings in this session from PocketHealth CEO Rishi Nayyar. Watch here.
- Experience Visage at HIMSS 2025: See for yourself what the buzz in CloudPACS is all about by scheduling a priority demo with Visage Imaging at HIMSS 2025 today, or drop by their booth #661 to learn more about Visage 7.
- The Growth of AI in Pulmonology: Learn more about the capabilities of AI for chest imaging in this on-demand webinar from Blackford. You’ll hear pulmonology professionals discuss several promising areas, from acute imaging through chest X-ray analysis to lung cancer screening.
- Rewriting Cancer: How AI Could Reimagine Cancer Screening: Find out how DeepHealth is empowering breakthroughs in lung cancer detection with AI-driven technology in the #RewritingCancer digital series, which explores innovative solutions for cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
- Celebrating Happy Customers: There’s nothing better than happy customers. Find out what radiology personnel at Western New York MRI in Buffalo had to say about their new uMR 680 scanner from United Imaging.
- Powering Reporting Progress with Efficiency: Radiologists are looking to maximize their efficiency with new reporting tools that integrate easily with their PACS and RIS. Learn more about solutions from Kailo Medical in this Imaging Wire Show interview with Jason Mercieca and Dieter Smith.
- Perspectives on Cybersecurity in Medical Imaging: Healthcare organizations are a prime target for cyberattacks, so how can you proactively defend yourself against these threats? Learn how to protect your operations – and your patients – in this March 27 webinar from Merge by Merative.
- Unprecedented Insights Made Possible with AI: With the largest normative dataset of whole-body imaging in the world, Prenuvo’s AI researchers partner with the best academic minds to understand – like never before – what “normal” aging means. Learn about their work today.
- Empower Your Healthcare Workforce at HIMSS 2025: Visit Microsoft at HIMSS 2025 to learn how to empower your healthcare workforce, unlock value from clinical and operational data, and accelerate discovery and development. Schedule a demo today or visit booth #2221.
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