49,000 Women to Take Part in Study of Digital vs. Film Mammography

Eighteen medical centers in the U.S. and Canada are set to take part in a study of 49,500 women designed to determine if the new digital mammography is equal to or better than standard film mammography for breast cancer screening.

The study, called the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) study will be funded by a $25 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

"Digital mammography has the potential to detect breast cancer earlier, especially in women with dense tissue for whom conventional mammography has limitations," said Dr. Laurie Fajardo, professor of radiology at Johns Hopkins and principal investigator for the Hopkins part of the study.

"Up till now, we were only able to offer digital mammography to patients with potential problems requiring breast biopsies. But this clinical trial allows us to offer the potential benefits of digital mammography to asymptomatic women coming for routine screening mammography," Fajardo said.

To be eligible for the study, women should not have breast problems and should be willing to have both a digital mammogram and their annual routine screening mammogram.

Other sources: National Cancer Institute, Johns Hopkins