GE Healthcare Encourages Women to Take Action on National Mammography Day; Advances in Imaging...

WAUKESHA, Wis. -- GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), is urging all women over 40 and any "at-risk" patients to observe National Mammography Day by scheduling a mammogram.

National Mammography Day, established in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, occurs

"National Mammography Day is an excellent opportunity for everyone to remember the importance of early cancer detection through annual mammography screening," said Joe Hogan, President and CEO of GE Healthcare. "The American Cancer Society recommends mammography screenings for women over 40, and we believe that annual exams increase a woman's chance for detecting breast cancer early. When coupled with new treatment options, mammography screenings can significantly improve a woman's chances of survival."

In addition, said Hogan, innovations in breast imaging technologies are helping to augment breast cancer detection. "Just as consumers have moved from traditional film cameras to digital cameras, the medical community is rapidly adopting digital mammography tools that enable high quality, more accessible images" said Hogan. "Film is still a good technology, just as it is in cameras, but we think digital has advantages, particularly in its efficiency. We will continue to invest in research and development to improve mammography technology "

In 2000, GE was the first company to introduce full-field digital mammography for patient use, and today there are more than 1,500 GE Senographe systems in use worldwide. More than 25 million women have been examined using the system. In the largest cancer screening trial in history, published last month by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN), GE's Senographe digital mammography system was used for more exams than any other digital system. The study reported that while film and digital images are equally accurate for many women, digital mammograms had higher sensitivities for three sub-groups of women: women under 50, women with heterogeneous or very dense breast tissue, and pre- or perimenopausal women.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the world and more than 1.2 million people annually are diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the World Health Organization. According to industry experts, the five-year survival rate in cases of early detection of breast cancer is 95 percent.

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies that are shaping a new age of patient care. GE Healthcare's expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring and life support systems, disease research, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping physicians detect disease earlier and to tailor personalized treatments for patients. GE Healthcare offers a broad range of products and services that are improving productivity in healthcare and enhancing patient care by enabling healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases, and other conditions.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $15 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 43,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.