Is full-field digital mammography more accurate than screen-film mammography in overall population screening? A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveTo compare the accuracy of screen-film mammography (SFM) and full-field digital mammography (FFDM) for population-based breast cancer screening.Study design and settingA quantitative systematic review was performed including randomized controlled trials and cohort studies.ResultsTen studies (comprising 667,649 women, 82,573 of whom underwent SFM and FFDM) were included. The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was 0.92 (SE ± 0.06) for SFM and 0.91 (SE ± 0.11) for FFDM. The results in the random-effects model were 0.95 (95% CI, 0.72–1.24) and 0.52 (95% CI, 0.28–0.95) for SFM versus FFDM in all age and younger groups, respectively.ConclusionFFDM is more accurate than SFM only in women less than 50 years old.