The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has approved the first large-scale breast imaging trial in approximately 25 years under lead investigator, Etta Pisano, MD (and Academy executive committee member); lead statistician, Constantine A. Gastonis, PhD; and ECON-ACRIN group co-chair (and Academy Secretary/Treasurer), Mitchell Schnall, MD, PhD, and the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group. ECOG-ACRIN is now recruiting medical facilities to participate in the trials that are expected to begin by the middle of 2017.
Tomosynthesis Mammography Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST), to those who are unfamiliar with the technology, is a step past traditional mammography. Tomosynthesis images sequence in a way that creates the perspective of looking through the breast. This eliminates the superimposition of shadows from the different layers of breast tissue that can mask tumors or create patterns that resemble cancer when none is present. While similar to 3D CT images, it uses a different technology to produce the images.
ECON-ACRIN Cancer Research Group was formed by the merger of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN). It is supported primarily through grants provided by the National Cancer Institute. It also receives funding from private sector organizations through philanthropy and collaborations.
There will be satellite meetings held at the 2016 RSNA annual meeting this November in Chicago for interested investigators.
To read the full press release click here.
