Denver Health is the first hospital in Denver and one of only two in Colorado to offer Contrast-enhanced mammography screening, or CEM.
CEM is a new type of imaging exam that offers benefits beyond just improved imaging. It uses the same basic equipment as a standard mammogram but adds an iodine-based contrast agent injected into a vein. Cancerous tissue tends to recruit new blood vessels, and the contrast lights up in those areas, making tumors easier to spot, especially in dense breast tissue where standard mammography can miss them.
"CEM is a less expensive, more accessible alternative to MRI for patients who need more than standard screening," said Nhat-Tuan Tran, MD, interim chief of Denver Health Breast Imaging.
It is available for high-risk patients, those who cannot take an MRI screening and those already diagnosed with breast cancer.
Benefits of Contrast-Enhanced Mammography (CEM) include:
- Takes less time than an MRI
- Available to patients who have metallic implants/items not compatible with MRI
- Less expensive than MRI
Current guidelines recommend that patients with a 20% or higher lifetime risk of breast cancer alternate between MRI and mammography every six months. For patients with breast cancer, MRI can be used to evaluate the extent of disease or treatment response. CEM could replace some of those MRI visits, reducing both cost and time without sacrificing quality of detection.
Call us at 303-436-4949 to make an appointment to see if CEM could be the right option for you.
Read more about how CEM is helping one of our patients in our patient newsletter Journeys.
