Breast Cancer Is Deadlier for Black Women; ACR-managed Study of Mammograms Could Help Close the Gap

An article by the Associated Press (AP) published Oct. 17 considers, “Are 3D mammograms better than standard 2D imaging for catching advanced [breast] cancers?” The Tomosynthesis Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST), discussed in the article and managed daily by the American College of Radiology® (ACR®) Center for Research and Innovation, intends to find out.

The National Cancer Institute-funded TMIST study — one of the most diverse cancer screening trials in history — already has nearly 93,000 of the planned 128,000 participants enrolled. The AP reports, “At the U.S. study sites, 21% of study participants are Black women — that’s higher than a typical cancer treatment study, in which 9% of participants are Black.”

The AP quotes Etta Pisano, MD, FACR, ACR Chief Research Officer, who shared that the study, led by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group, “added more international sites to enhance the trial’s diversity, particularly for Hispanic and Asian women.”