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‘New hope’ for millions whose dense breast tissue masks cancer on mammograms
A new software promises to detect breast cancer in women with dense breasts
A tool that uses AI to detect breast cancer could “offer new hope” for millions of women whose dense breast tissue masks cancer on mammograms.
The software, developed by the health tech company DeepLook Medical, is the first AI tool to tackle breast cancer in women with dense tissue.
The technology is based on a shape recognition algorithm that aims to improve early detection, assist clinicians in creating treatment plans and accelerate workflow.
Nearly half of women over the age of 40 are found to have dense breast tissue which makes them more likely to get breast cancer.
However, because both dense breast tissue and cancer show up as white in a mammogram, as many as 50 per cent of cancers in these women are missed on mammograms.
“More than 40 per cent of women have dense breasts, myself included,” says DeepLook Medical CEO, Marissa Fayer.
“However, this disproportionately affects Black, Asian and Jewish populations which means these women have a higher chance of getting cancer just because of their genetics. There’s no reason not to have a technology that could be used with existing tools to help these women.”
What is unique about the software, DeepLook Medical claims, is that it is able to “see through” dense breast tissue.
“It is a precise tool that helps radiologists navigate dense breast tissue and gives patients the confidence that even if they have dense breast tissue, we can see through it,” says Fayer.
“This is a technology that works for everyone. It’s not just for white women – it can be used everywhere. The exciting part about it is that it is integrated straight into the workflow of radiologists; it’s right there on their monitor.”
The tool is currently available in the US, with certifications in other global regions pending and planned.
Fayer says: “There’s nobody in the world who hasn’t been touched by cancer. Our hope is that if it happens to you, you can find it early.”
AI for all
Reading mammograms with the help of AI technologies has been shown to detect more cancers than the routine double reading by two different radiologists. However, in order for this to benefit all patients, the datasets used for creating these technologies should be curated with diversity and inclusion in mind.
STANDING Together, an international initiative that tackles bias in AI health datasets, found that many datasets in different disease areas, including breast cancer, were from high-income settings and did not report individuals’ attributes.
“Making sure you have the correct data set coming in and ensuring the technologies you are developing can be used on diverse sets are some of the biggest challenges in AI,” says Fayer.
“It’s a big push, but it’s something that we need to keep talking about and something that developers need to stand up for.”
Not ensuring diverse datasets, Fayer warns, could lead to disparities similar to the ones seen in clinical research.
“Historically, women have been underrepresented in clinical trials, which led to poor health outcomes and huge data gaps. That’s why we need to keep talking about diversity, especially when it comes to AI. There’s no reason to stop talking about it.”
A new study is the first to systematically examine how severe menstrual symptoms affect working life, exposing a major research gap and the need for more inclusive policies.
Researchers analysed global studies to identify common themes and to map the challenges women face at work.
The work, led by the University of Portsmouth, highlights how little research exists on workplace menstrual health despite evidence that 25 per cent of women experience severe symptoms.
These include cramps, breast tenderness, mood changes, headaches, fatigue and back pain, alongside heavy bleeding, painful periods, anaemia (low red blood cells), irregular cycles, fibroids (non-cancerous growths) and endometriosis (tissue similar to the womb lining growing outside the uterus).
Lead author Amtullah Oluwakanyinsola Adegoke said: “We need to recognise that women and girls menstruate – it’s a natural part of life.
“As members of society, their needs should be acknowledged as part of the life cycle.
“While menopause awareness has grown, menstrual health and endometriosis are still not widely understood.”
While analysing previous data, the researchers found a survey of more than 42,000 women aged 15 to 45 which revealed that one in three experienced symptoms severe enough to interfere with daily activities, including work.
Researchers identified three themes: impact on women’s workplace wellbeing and quality of life; presenteeism and absenteeism linked to symptoms; and organisational practices, policies and menstrual health inclusion programmes.
The study found that supported employees are more productive, take fewer sick days, stay in their roles longer and engage more.
Poor menstrual health support can lead to depression, poor concentration, reduced performance and an overall negative effect on wellbeing.
Only 18 per cent of organisations include some form of menstrual health support within their wellbeing initiatives, and just 12 per cent provide dedicated support.
Professor Karen Johnston from the University of Portsmouth said: “Menstrual health remains a largely neglected area of research.
“The majority of existing studies in medical journals focus on clinical aspects, highlighting the need to use menopause research to support the argument for menstruation. Although other topics have received increased attention in the UK, menstrual health continues to be underexplored.
“It shouldn’t be a taboo topic – it should be part of an organisation’s health and wellbeing agenda.
“Alongside training, organisations should explore flexible working and ways to support employees experiencing severe menstrual problems.”
The study emphasised the importance of creating more inclusive workplaces through supportive measures such as menstrual leave, flexible working, access to hygiene products and encouraging open conversations.
In the UK, there is no legal requirement for paid menstrual leave, so employees typically use standard sick leave.
An overlooked fat-derived hormone may drive higher breast cancer death risk in postmenopausal women with obesity, an analysis suggests.
The review identifies oestrone, a form of oestrogen produced in fat tissue, as a major driver of oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer, the most common and deadly form of the disease in postmenopausal women.
ER+ means the cancer grows in response to oestrogen. It also raises the possibility that treatment could be improved with the addition of weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists.
The analysis was led by Joyce Slingerland, who co-leads the Cancer Host Interaction Program at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in the US.
She said postmenopausal women with obesity are more likely to be diagnosed with ER+ breast cancer and are two to three times more likely to die from it.
Slingerland said: “That’s particularly concerning because it’s estimated that obesity will affect nearly half of women in the United States by the end of the decade.”
Before menopause, the most abundant oestrogen in women is 17β-oestradiol, produced primarily by the ovaries.
After menopause, its levels fall dramatically and oestrone becomes the most abundant form circulating in the blood.
Despite their similar chemical structure, the research suggests these two forms of oestrogen behave very differently.
While 17β-oestradiol turns on genes that reduce inflammation, oestrone does the opposite, activating genes that trigger intense inflammatory activity.
In the context of obesity, levels of oestrone are two to four times higher in fat, breast and other tissues.
The analysis suggests these elevated levels set off a cascade that causes precancerous changes and activates cancer-fuelling genes.
Previous research by the team showed that oestrone-fuelled inflammation activates genes involved in a process that promotes cancer spread.
When researchers treated obese mice with ER+ breast cancer with oestrone, their tumours grew faster and rapidly spread throughout the body compared with mice treated with 17β-oestradiol.
Slingerland said: “Our work has provided some of the causal links between oestrone and the worse outcomes seen in postmenopausal women with ER-positive breast cancer who are obese.
“Simply put, these two oestrogens are not equal to each other.”
The author argues that clinical studies of GLP-1 drugs in women with ER+ breast cancer who have obesity are a logical next step.
Slingerland said: “The GLP-1 drugs have revolutionised weight loss.
“Because of oestrone’s powerful inflammatory effects in fat, there’s real potential that, by inducing weight loss, GLP-1 drugs can pump the brakes on oestrone’s cancer-fuelling behaviour.”
Older women with both insomnia and sleep apnoea show worse verbal memory than those with sleep apnoea alone, a new study has found.
The research revealed that older adults with comorbid insomnia and sleep apnoea, often referred to as COMISA, demonstrated worse memory performance than those with sleep apnoea alone. Sleep apnoea is a condition where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep.
However, when analysed by sex, the association was only significant in women, not men.
The study, conducted by researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine, involved 110 older adults aged 65 to 83 diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea.
Participants completed an overnight sleep study and cognitive testing. COMISA was present in 37 per cent of participants.
Lead author Breanna Holloway, a postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego School of Medicine, said: “We expected that having both insomnia and sleep apnoea would worsen memory for everyone, but only older women showed this vulnerability.
“That was striking, especially because women typically outperform men on verbal memory tasks.
“The fact that COMISA seemed to offset that advantage hints at a hidden sleep-related pathway to cognitive decline in women.
“Prior studies have shown increased incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in women with untreated sleep apnoea.”
The researchers suggest sex differences in sleep architecture may explain the vulnerability observed in women.
Post hoc analyses revealed that women with COMISA had reduced rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the stage associated with dreaming and memory consolidation, and more slow wave (deep) sleep compared with men.
Holloway said: “These results point to an overlooked risk in women with both insomnia and sleep apnoea.”
“Because women are more likely to have insomnia and often go undiagnosed for sleep apnoea, recognising and treating COMISA early could help protect memory and reduce dementia risk.”
The researchers noted that the findings support sex-specific screening and treatment strategies.
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