The relationship between breast cancer incidence, mammography and income in New York State

During the first decade of the 2000s, film mammography was almost wholly replaced by digital technology. Digital mammography was introduced unevenly, with early adopters tending to be located in wealthier communities. Since digital mammography is more sensitive than film mammography, the disparity in technology could have contributed to disparities in breast cancer incidence rates. For in situ breast cancer, we estimate the differences in technology could have contributed to a 13% difference in incidence between the wealthiest and poorest women. Since the observed difference was over 100%, the contribution of differing mammography technologies was likely small.