Breast Imaging Study
Closed to Patient Enrollment, Data Analysis Ongoing
Women who are at high genetic risk of cancer because they have a mutation in one of the BReast CAncer susceptibility genes, BRCA1 or BRCA2, are at increased risk of developing breast cancer. Many high-risk women develop breast cancer before the age of 50. For these women, cancer risk is managed through vigilant surveillance, in hopes of identifying the disease at an early stage. The Breast Imaging Study evaluated the use of several new, promising breast cancer screening techniques in women at high genetic risk of breast cancer. These techniques include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and breast duct lavage (BDL) and/or nipple aspiration. This study has completed accrual and follow-up. Investigators found no differences in mammographic density between BRCA mutation carriers and non-carriers, and demonstrated that breast duct lavage is an unsatisfactory clinical procedure. Data from this cohort led to the development of a novel breast MRI imaging phantom and has been used to identify novel breast imaging features (e.g., “texture”) which may permit discrimination between mutation-negative and mutation-positive women.
View breast imaging study publications.
For more information, contact Sharon Savage.