Better Screening for Breast Cancer

A new device that screens for breast cancer by measuring electrical resistance in tissue could soon become a painless, radiation-free, and less costly alternative to mammography for women at high risk for the disease.

The company developing the technology, Z-Tech, based in Westford, MA, recently completed international trials of screening methods on 3,500 subjects at 28 different sites. A paper detailing the outcome of the two-year trial will be submitted later this year for peer review, the company says. But preliminary results indicate that the device catches more cancers and has fewer false positives than film mammography, most notably in patients younger than 50 years of age.