The study's statistician, Jeffrey Blume, Ph.D., associate professor and deputy director of the ACRIN Biostatistics and Data Management Center at Brown University in Providence, R.I., emphasized the reliability of these results: "Rigorous, well controlled trials like this one - where participants uniformly undergo both screening exams in a randomized order and investigators interpreting one exam are masked to the results of the other - yield the highest level of medical evidence. A study as large as this one could not have been completed without the ongoing support and cooperation of NCI and Avon."

The American Cancer Society recently recommended that certain women at very high risk for breast cancer be screened with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in addition to mammography, and these results do not change that recommendation. Women who do have screening MRI do not need screening ultrasound. Women who are at increased risk, who are currently undergoing mammographic screening and are not recommended for MRI, or for whom it is not available or not tolerated, may wish to consider adding screening ultrasound. Women should talk with their doctor about their breast cancer risk profile and whether a screening ultrasound exam supplemental to mammography might be beneficial, keeping in mind the potential for a false positive result and an unnecessary biopsy. At present, there is a limited supply of trained personnel and facilities offering screening ultrasound. Women also should consult their health insurance policy regarding the coverage for breast cancer screening options. An annual mammogram is still recommended: Neither MRI nor ultrasound is meant to replace mammography.


The study continues to follow participants to examine the potential benefit of routine annual combination screening of mammography and ultrasound.

For a listing of participating sites, please visit:

http://www.acrin.org/PROTOCOLSUMMARYTABLE/PROTOCOL6666/6666PARTICIPATINGSITES/tabid/169/Default.aspx

For answers to Frequently Asked Questions about ACRIN 6666 go to:
http://www.acr.org/Hidden/ACRIN6666FAQ.aspx

For the ACR statement on this matter, go to:
http://www.acr.org/MainMenuCategories/media_room/FeaturedCategories/PressReleases/ACRSBIStatementonACRINTrialResults.aspx

The American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) is a National Cancer Institute Clinical Trials Cooperative Group with operations headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa. and the ACRIN Biostatistics Center located at Brown University in Providence, R.I. ACRIN is made up of investigators from over 100 academic and community-based medical facilities in North America and several abroad. ACRIN's mission is to conduct clinical trials of medical imaging that will result in: 1) the earlier diagnosis of cancer, 2) allaying the concerns of those who do not have cancer, and 3) extending the length and improving the quality of lives of cancer patients. Further information about ACRIN can be found at www.acrin.org.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) is a national professional organization serving more than 32,000 diagnostic radiologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and medical physicists, with programs focusing on the practice of radiology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.

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