WOMENS HEALTH
New survey: Majority of U.S. women say their health care providers have not informed them of diet’s role in prevention of breast cancer
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Up slightly from 16% last year, only 19% of women say a health care provider has discussed with them nutrition’s role in breast cancer risk in a new Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine/Morning Consult survey. However, fewer of those same women specifically mention diet this year when asked what steps they’re aware of that women can take to lower their chances of developing breast cancer.
With Breast Cancer Awareness Month approaching in October, the nationwide online poll was conducted among 2,022 U.S. women.
Dr. Kristi Funk, a renowned breast cancer surgeon and leading prevention expert from Los Angeles, said “It’s clear that most women are still unaware of the lifesaving message that what they eat and drink is directly correlated to their chances of developing breast cancer.”
A new American Medical Association breast cancer prevention policy is a great step toward connecting that divide, Dr. Funk said. Adopted in June to educate the public about the benefits of lifestyle changes that may reduce breast cancer risk, including engaging in regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy body weight, eating a healthy plant-based diet, and limiting alcohol intake, it also encourages physicians to regularly discuss with their patients lifestyle changes that may reduce cancer risk.
Results of the new survey also show:
- There was a slight decrease in the number of women who are aware of the role diet plays in breast cancer risk—25% in 2025, down from 28% in 2024.
- Eating fruits and vegetables remains the most frequently mentioned dietary habit for reducing breast cancer risk. When asked openly, 24% of women (up from 23%) mention vegetables, and 17% (up from 16%) mention fruits as contributing to breast cancer risk reduction. However, far fewer mentioned avoiding processed meats or limiting fats. Notably, only 1% mentioned plant-based, vegan, or vegetarian diets as potential preventive measures, highlighting a continuing gap in awareness.
- There was a 4% increase in the percentage of women who correctly identified that high soy consumption reduces breast cancer risk. The notion that soy products are associated with increased risk is a myth that has been widely and mistakenly promoted, according to a 2017 study involving more than 6,000 women with breast cancer. Research findings show that eating soy foods like tofu, tempeh, and soy milk has a protective effect against breast cancer.
The Physicians Committee, a national nonprofit health advocacy group of more than 17,000 doctors, recommends a four-pronged approach to preventing breast cancer: Eat a whole food, plant-based diet, exercise regularly, limit alcohol and maintain a healthy weight.
Stephanie McBurnett, a registered dietitian with the Physicians Committee, said “Disappointingly, the women who said they have discussed nutrition’s role in breast cancer prevention with their health care provider were slightly more likely to inaccurately believe that dairy reduces risk—16% in 2025, up from 9% in 2024. This highlights the growing need for clearer messaging from providers.
“On a more positive note,” Ms. McBurnett said, “the individuals most likely to say beans help reduce risk were those that have discussed nutrition as a potentially preventive measure with their health care provider. That’s an encouraging trend.”
Starting in September, community members, and local leaders will join health experts from the Physicians Committee in dozens of U.S. rallies to raise awareness of strategies that can help prevent breast cancer. Several international rallies are also being organized. More information can be found at www.LetsBeatBreastCancer.org.
Note to reporters: To arrange an advance interview with Dr. Funk, or Ms. McBurnett, please contact Kim Kilbride at 202-717-8665; kkilbride@pcrm.org
Media Contact
Kim Kilbride
202-717-8665
Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit organization that promotes preventive medicine, conducts clinical research, and encourages higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in education and research.
Method of Research
Survey
Subject of Research
People
RSNA AI challenge models can independently interpret mammograms
Radiological Society of North America
image:
(A) Left mediolateral oblique (LMLO) mammogram in a 58-year-old woman with an area of microcalcification (box). (B) Magnified view (2.2×) of the box in A. This case was recalled by all of the top 10 artificial intelligence algorithms but was found to be benign at biopsy analysis.
view moreCredit: Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)
OAK BROOK, Ill. – Algorithms submitted for an AI Challenge hosted by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) have shown excellent performance for detecting breast cancers on mammography images, increasing screening sensitivity while maintaining low recall rates, according to a study published today in Radiology, the premier journal of the RSNA.
The RSNA Screening Mammography Breast Cancer Detection AI Challenge was a crowdsourced competition that took place in 2023, with more than 1,500 teams participating. The Radiology article details an analysis of the algorithms’ performance, led by Yan Chen, Ph.D., a professor in cancer screening at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.
“We were overwhelmed by the volume of contestants and the number of AI algorithms that were submitted as part of the Challenge,” Prof. Chen said. “It’s one of the most participated-in RSNA AI Challenges. We were also impressed by the performance of the algorithms given the relatively short window allowed for algorithm development and the requirement to source training data from open-sourced locations.”
The goal of the Challenge was to source AI models that improve the automation of cancer detection in screening mammograms, helping radiologists work more efficiently, improving the quality and safety of patient care, and potentially reducing costs and unnecessary medical procedures.
RSNA invited participation from teams across the globe. Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and BreastScreen Victoria in Australia provided a training dataset of around 11,000 breast screening images, and Challenge participants could also source publicly available training data for their algorithms.
Prof. Chen’s research team evaluated 1,537 working algorithms submitted to the Challenge, testing them on a set of 10,830 single-breast exams—completely separate from the training dataset—that were confirmed by pathology results as positive or negative for cancer.
Altogether, the algorithms yielded median rates of 98.7% specificity for confirming no cancer was present on mammography images, 27.6% sensitivity for positively identifying cancer, and a recall rate—the percentage of the cases that AI judged positive—of 1.7%. When the researchers combined the top 3 and top 10 performing algorithms, it boosted sensitivity to 60.7% and 67.8%, respectively.
“When ensembling the top performing entries, we were surprised that different AI algorithms were so complementary, identifying different cancers,” Prof. Chen said. “The algorithms had thresholds that were optimized for positive predictive value and high specificity, so different cancer features on different images were triggering high scores differently for different algorithms.”
According to the researchers, creating an ensemble of the 10 best-performing algorithms produced performance that is close to that of an average screening radiologist in Europe or Australia.
Individual algorithms showed significant differences in performance depending on factors such as the type of cancer, the manufacturer of the imaging equipment and the clinical site where the images were acquired. Overall, the algorithms had greater sensitivity for detecting invasive cancers than for noninvasive cancers.
Since many of the participants’ AI models are open source, the results of the Challenge may contribute to the further improvement of both experimental and commercial AI tools for mammography, with the goal of improving breast cancer outcomes worldwide, Prof. Chen explained.
“By releasing the algorithms and a comprehensive imaging dataset to the public, participants provide valuable resources that can drive further research and enable the benchmarking that is required for the effective and safe integration of AI into clinical practice,” she said.
The research team plans to conduct follow-up studies to benchmark the performance of the top Challenge algorithms against commercially available products using a larger and more diverse dataset.
“Additionally, we will investigate the effectiveness of smaller, more challenging test sets with robust human reader benchmarks—such as those developed by the PERFORMS scheme, a UK-based program for assessing and assuring the quality of radiologist performance as an approach for AI evaluation, and compare its utility to that of large-scale datasets,” Prof. Chen said.
RSNA hosts an AI Challenge annually, with this year’s competition seeking submissions for models that help detect and localize intracranial aneurysms.
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“Performance of Algorithms Submitted in the 2023 RSNA Screening Mammography Breast Cancer Detection AI Challenge.” Collaborating with Prof. Chen were George J. W. Partridge, B.Sc., Maryam Vazirabad, M.Sc., Robyn L. Ball, Ph.D., Hari M. Trivedi, M.D., Felipe Campos Kitamura, M.D., Ph.D., Helen M. L. Frazer, M.B.B.S., FRANZCR, M.Epi., Tara A. Retson, M.D., Ph.D., Luyan Yao, M.Sc., Iain T. Darker, Ph.D., Tatiana Kelil, M.D., John Mongan, M.D., Ph.D., Ritse M. Mann, M.D., and Linda Moy, M.D.
Radiology is edited by Linda Moy, M.D., New York University, New York, N.Y., and owned and published by the Radiological Society of North America, Inc. (https://pubs.rsna.org/journal/radiology)
RSNA is an association of radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. (RSNA.org)
For patient-friendly information on breast cancer screening, visit RadiologyInfo.org.
Right breast mammogram in a 69-year-old woman. There is a 6-mm spiculate mass in the 12 o’clock position (arrow), visible on both the (A) mediolateral oblique and (B) craniocaudal views. This case was not recalled by any of the top 10 artificial intelligence algorithms but was a biopsy-proven invasive carcinoma.
Credit
Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)
Journal
Radiology
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Performance of Algorithms Submitted in the 2023 RSNA Screening Mammography Breast Cancer Detection AI Challenge
Article Publication Date
12-Aug-2025
Concerns about sexual function persist well beyond midlife
New study confirms that older women experience sexual dysfunction at similar rates as midlife women but report less sexual distress
CLEVELAND, Ohio (August 13, 2025)—Adults aged 65 years and older are becoming the fastest-growing demographic, yet, the sexual health of older women is often understudied and untreated. A new study demonstrates their rate of sexual problems is similar to that of midlife women, although they are less likely to report distress related to their sexual problems. Results of the study are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.
Although sexual activity declines with age, sexual health remains relevant throughout life and does not cease with the end of reproductive years, as demonstrated by the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) in which more than 75% of middle-aged women reported that sex was important to them. Other studies have similarly shown that 37% of women aged older than 65 years and 10% aged older than 85 years remain sexually active.
The researchers believe the results of this latest study suggest that older women may feel uncomfortable discussing sexual concerns or lack awareness of effective treatments. They additionally speculated that the lack of related distress could reflect greater acceptance of age-related changes or lower expectations regarding sexual function. This aligns with previous research showing that aging is often linked to increased emotional resilience and overall emotional well-being.
Problems with sexual health are common, affecting 22% to 43% of women globally. Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is defined as a clinically significant disturbance in sexual response or pleasure that persists for at least 6 months and causes personal distress. Despite the growing population of older women, data on sexual health and FSD in women aged 65 years and older remain sparse. Most research focuses on middle-aged populations or combines data from men and women.
This newest study involving nearly 3,500 sexually active women aimed to examine sexual health concerns, sexual function, and related distress in sexually active women aged 65 years and older and compare them with those of women aged 50 to 64 years. Among other things, the study found that older women were less likely to report loss of sexual desire and reduced genital sensation. In addition, although older women experienced FSD at similar rates as midlife women, they reported less sexual distress.
Survey results are published in the article “Understanding the sexual concerns of older women presenting for care to women’s health clinics: a cross-sectional study.”
“This study showed that, despite older women reporting sexual dysfunction at similar rates as their midlife female counterparts, they reported less distress about their sexual problems. It is important to address sexual health concerns at any age, and this study highlights the need to continue screening for and managing sexual health concerns throughout a woman’s entire lifespan,” says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society and one of the authors of the study.
For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit www.menopause.org.
The Menopause Society is dedicated to empowering healthcare professionals and providing them with the tools and resources to improve the health of women during the menopause transition and beyond. As the leading authority on menopause since 1989, the nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization serves as the independent, evidence-based resource for healthcare professionals, researchers, the media, and the public and leads the conversation about improving women’s health and healthcare experiences. To learn more, visit menopause.org.
Journal
Menopause
Method of Research
Data/statistical analysis
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Understanding the sexual concerns of older women presenting for care to women's health clinics: a cross-sectional study
Article Publication Date
13-Aug-2025
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