Could a Routine Mammogram Also Screen for Heart Disease? Australian Research Says It May Be Possible

This week, Assistant Minister for Health Rebecca White visited The George Institute for Global Health to see an early piece of research with an unusual premise: that a mammogram taken to look for breast cancer might also say something about a woman's heart.

Researchers at the Institute have built a machine-learning model that takes two inputs, the images from a mammogram and the woman's age, and uses them to predict her risk of cardiovascular disease. If the approach holds up, women who go for routine breast cancer screening could one day have their cardiovascular risk assessed in the same appointment, opening the way to earlier identification and care.

The woman showing White the work was Associate Professor Clare Arnott, who leads the Institute's Cardiovascular Program. Arnott also sits on the Ministerial Expert Panel on Women's Health, which is looking at how to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in women.

The numbers behind the idea are stark. Cardiovascular disease accounted for roughly 1 in 4 deaths among Australian women in 2022, making it one of the leading causes of death for them. Yet women's cardiovascular risk is still under-recognised, and women are less likely than men to be screened for it in general practice.

Breast screening, by contrast, already reaches a large population. Arnott noted that around 1 million Australian women attend breast screening every year, and most never have their heart health assessed. Her team's question, in her words, is whether the same mammogram could do both jobs. She described the work as early, but said it points toward a way of reaching women who are often missed by traditional screening.

White framed the research against a wider problem of recognition. She said cardiovascular disease in women is frequently missed because symptoms can present differently than they do in men, and that what is often labelled atypical is in fact typical for women. Failure to recognise those symptoms, she said, contributes to missed or delayed diagnoses. She called the prospect of a mammogram flagging cardiovascular risk incredibly promising, because more women could be identified earlier and get the care they need.

The expert panel is the policy channel for this kind of work. So far it has held five meetings, one consumer roundtable and one clinical roundtable, drawing on researchers, clinicians, advocates and consumer representatives. White said having someone of Arnott's standing on the panel means its advice draws on leading expertise, and that the aim is for women to have their symptoms recognised, their concerns taken seriously and access to the right care.

Arnott said she was grateful that White took the time to see the work first-hand, and that she was proud to contribute to the panel as it shapes its advice. The panel is due to give its final advice to Government on cardiovascular health in late 2026. The mammogram model itself remains at the research stage, and nothing in the announcement suggests it is yet ready for clinical use.