Indiana University School of Medicine radiology researchers will recruit 3,000 women to participate in TMIST, a nationwide study comparing the two most common technologies used for breast cancer screening.
Tomosynthesis, also known as three-dimensional or 3-D mammography screening, will be compared with 2-D or conventional mammography in a study conducted by the National Cancer Institute and the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group. In total, the study will enroll 165,000 women over the next three years to determine which screening tool is best at identifying life-threatening cancers of the breast.
Steven Westphal, MD, assistant professor of clinical radiology and imaging sciences, is the local principal investigator for TMIST at Indiana University, one of the first sites to begin enrolling patients in this study. The number of sites will grow to nearly 100 mammography clinics in the United States and Canada.
Once enrolled, women will be assigned at random to either 2-D or 3-D mammography. Most women enrolled will be screened annually. Some postmenopausal women with no high-risk factors for breast cancer will be screened every two years. Woman may also volunteer to give a blood sample and a mouth rinse for DNA to be included in a biorepository for future research on genetic markers for breast cancer.
Women may ask their technologist about enrolling in the study at their next routine mammogram. For more information, contact IU School of Medicine research specialist Abby Sachs at (317) 963-4786.
Women who are eligible for the study are those who are not pregnant or lactating, have not had a screening mammogram in the past 11 months, do not have a personal history of breast cancer and do not have breast enhancements.
The clinical study is open at Indiana University Health University and Methodist hospitals.