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Screening Contrast-Enhanced Mammography as an Alternative to MRI

Screening Contrast-Enhanced Mammography as an Alternative to MRI

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04764292
Acronym
SCEMAM
Enrollment
615
Registered
2021-02-21
Start date
2021-02-15
Completion date
2025-05-30
Last updated
2026-05-22

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Breast Cancer

Keywords

breast cancer supplemental screening, breast density, contrast-enhanced mammography, screening mammography

Brief summary

There are women for whom a screening breast MRI is clinically recommended, but not feasible either due to patient factors (body habitus, pacemaker or other implant, claustrophobia) or access (cost, other constraints). Contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) is a potential alternative to MRI for screening that uses updated standard mammography equipment to obtain low- and high-energy images after intravenous injection of iodinated contrast (as used in CT scanning). The investigators seek to validate screening CEM as an alternative to screening MRI.

Detailed description

This is a prospective study designed to evaluate the role of contrast enhanced mammography (CEM) in screening for breast cancer. The overarching goal of the research program is to improve cancer detection on screening, particularly in women with dense breasts. MRI depicts more cancers than other screening methods, including ultrasound. MRI is proven to both improve cancer detection and reduce clinically detected cancers ("interval cancers") after a negative screening mammogram in women with dense breasts. PA Senate Bill 595, signed into law June 30, 2020, requires insurance carriers to provide coverage for supplemental screening with MRI or ultrasound for a variety of indications. Relative to the number of women who may benefit from screening MRI, there is a shortage of equipment/capacity. Further, nearly half of women cannot have an MRI for medical or other reasons, such as claustrophobia, implanted devices, body habitus, or cost (deductible and copay apply even with the new legislation). Contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) appears to have similar performance to MRI but has not been widely validated, particularly for screening. In order to lay the foundation for improved screening of women with dense breasts, the investigators seek to offer screening CEM as an alternative to MRI for women who meet guidelines for screening MRI but are unable to have MRI.

Interventions

supplemental breast cancer screening with contrast-enhanced mammography

supplemental breast cancer screening with contrast-enhanced mammography

Sponsors

Wendie Berg
Lead SponsorOTHER
PA Breast Cancer Coalition
CollaboratorUNKNOWN

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
SCREENING
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
30 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

1. Asymptomatic women under age 75 who are recommended for annual screening MRI and mammography based on current criteria: 1. Women known to be at high risk for breast cancer because of known or suspected pathogenic mutation, prior chest radiation therapy at least 8 years earlier and before age 30, or estimated lifetime risk of at least 20% based on family history/prior biopsy history (22), between age 30 and 75. 2. Women with extremely dense breasts age 40-75 (about 7% of the screening population (1)) (12). 2. Women with lobular carcinoma in situ (1% of women biopsied each year; about 0.06% of our screening population) beginning the year after diagnosis. 3. Women with a personal history of breast cancer diagnosed by age 50 or with dense breasts (21), beginning the year after diagnosis (will be recruited under separate ongoing TOCEM protocol). 4. Women with heterogeneously dense breasts and any family history of breast cancer (about 36% of the screening population has dense breasts and about 20% have a family history of breast cancer) who do not meet current high-risk criteria, beginning at age 40 or ten years prior to the age of the youngest relative but not before age 30. Participants are expected to have medical or other reasons that they are not able to have screening breast MRI.

Exclusion criteria

1. Under age 30 or over age 75. 2. Pregnant or breast feeding. 3. Breast implants. 4. Breast surgery within the prior 12 months. 5. Breast signs or symptoms (lump, nipple discharge, nipple retraction, or being followed for breast abnormality on prior imaging). 6. Currently undergoing any type of systemic chemotherapy for cancer (excludes oral endocrine therapy such as aromatase inhibitors or tamoxifen). 7. Reduced kidney function with eGFR \< 45 mL/min.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Cancer Detection Rate (CDR) Per 1,000 Screenings1.5 yearsCancer detection rate per 1,000 screenings with CEM compared to standard mammography/tomosynthesis (DBT) alone. Interpretation and performance outcomes from the primary reader were compared between standard-of-care DBT examinations interpreted alone and DBT examinations interpreted with the addition of CEM.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
False Positive Recall Rates1.5 yearsTo assess changes in false positive recall rates from CEM. DBT false-positive findings for primary observer (usual care) vs DBT and CEM false positive findings for primary observer
Biopsy Rate1.5 yearsTo assess changes in the biopsy rate after the addition of CEM. DBT biopsy rate for primary observer (usual care) vs DBT and CEM biopsy rate for primary observer.
Positive Predictive Value of Recall (PPV1)1.5 yearsTo assess changes in positive predictive value of recall (PPV1) after the addition of CEM. DBT PPV1for primary observer (usual care) vs DBT and CEM PPV1 for primary observer.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORWendie Berg, MD, PhD

University of Pittsburgh

Participant flow

Pre-assignment details

All participants who signed informed consent were assigned to a single screening contrast enhanced mammography (CEM) examination with clinical standard-of-care tomosynthesis (DBT).Two radiologists (one primary) evaluated each pair of examinations by sequentially interpreting each of DBT and CEM in opposing order, initially blinded to the other modality.

Baseline characteristics

Characteristic
Age, Continuous57 Years
Body Mass Index
25 kg/m^2 or less
325 Participants
Body Mass Index
> 25 to 30 kg/m^2
159 Participants
Body Mass Index
> 30 kg/m^2
117 Participants
Breast Density
Extremely dense
51 Participants
Breast Density
Fatty
0 Participants
Breast Density
Heterogeneously dense
473 Participants
Breast Density
Scattered
77 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
0 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
601 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Menopausal status
Perimenopausal
101 Participants
Menopausal status
Postmenopausal
400 Participants
Menopausal status
Premenopausal
100 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
9 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
20 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
570 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
601 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
0 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 6150 / 615
other
Total, other adverse events
5 / 6150 / 615
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 6150 / 615

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: May 23, 2026