Karla Kerlikowske, MD
Karla Kerlikowske, MD, a co-principal investigator of the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium(BCSC), is part of the team awarded $7.5 million by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute(PCORI) board of governors to determine the effectiveness of two supplemental breast screening and diagnostic workup strategies.
UCSF, and Diana Miglioretti, UC Davis dean’s professor of biostatistics, will work to determine the effectiveness of digital breast tomosynthesis (3-D mammography) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as well as whether the effectiveness depends on a woman’s breast density.
The award was one of four from the PCORI board of governors that will examine various care options for treatment of a range of conditions and problems that impose high burdens on patients, caregivers and the healthcare system.
Kerlikowske and her colleagues will use data from the BCSC, the nation’s largest collection of information on breast imaging. The BCSC consists of six breast imaging registries across the U.S., including the the BCSC’s Statistical Coordinating Center located at the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, Wash. Other co-principal investigators include Tracy Onega, PhD, and Anna Tosteson, ScD, at Dartmouth College.
Supplemental Screening is Growing Rapidly
Understanding the role of supplemental screening is extremely important because its use is growing rapidly, but too little evidence exists to prove if it is effective. Tomosynthesis, also known as 3-D mammography, is of particular concern because about half of the mammography centers now offer the technology and many radiologists in the U.S. are using it for screening all women. The technology is added to an existing mammography machine and turned on during a screening for the added 3-D imaging.
“3-D mammography holds great promise of improving breast cancer detection of aggressive tumors and decreasing the rate of false alarms,” said, Kerlikowske, who is also a member of the UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center. “We want to know whether performing the test adds clinical value, in particular in women with dense breasts, obviating the need for screening ultrasound or MRI.”