LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — A new study says 3-D mammograms may be better at finding cancer than regular scans, but whether that means saving more lives isn’t known.

The study involved almost half a million breast scans. More than one-third used relatively new 3-D imaging along with conventional scans. The rest used regular mammograms alone.

The 3-D combo detected one additional cancer per 1,000 scans, compared with conventional mammograms. There were also 15 percent fewer false alarms.

But the study wasn’t designed to determine whether the combined 3-D scans resulted in better long-term outcomes.

Still, the researchers say their results are promising.

The study was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.