Clinicians should use caution when evaluating radiographs of younger obese patients for asbestos-related pleural plaque, especially in populations anticipated to have low or background prevalence of localized pleural thickening (LPT), according to a study published in the January 2014 issue of Academic Radiology. 

The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that primary care providers screen asymptomatic women with a family history of breast, ovarian, tubal, or peritoneal cancers to determine if that family history is associated with an increased risk of potentially harmful mutations in breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 or BRCA2, according to a recommendation statement published on Dec. 23 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. 

The addition of tomosynthesis to mammography causes an increase in interpretation time of images from screening examinations in comparison with the time it takes to interpret images from conventional digital mammography, according to a study published in the January 2014 issue of Radiology. 

The health ministers of the G8 countries made an official declaration at the Dementia Summit held at the Lancaster House in London Dec. 11 to develop a viable treatment for Alzheimer’s disease within the next 12 years.

The G8 Dementia Summit held in London Dec. 11 aimed not only at increasing funding research for Alzheimer’s disease, but also approving diagnostic dementia imaging by the U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS).

Piramal Imaging, producers of the amyloid imaging PET agent F-18 florbetaben, otherwise known as NeuroCeq, announced Dec. 20 that the drug had been recommended by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), one step away from European Commission approval. 

F-18 labeled fluorodihydroxyphenylalanine (F-18 FDOPA) appears to find more cancer for patients with neuroendocrine tumors who have had negative conventional and somatostatin receptor scintigraphy, according to a study published Dec. 16 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

The global market for radioisotopes is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.8 percent by 2017 after hitting $3.8 billion in 2012, according to an industry report by MarketsandMarkets announced Dec. 14.