Breast cancer screening should be tailored to a woman’s risk factors and breast density

Questions To Ask Your Health Care Provider

• Do I have dense breasts?
• What is my breast cancer risk?
• Should I have genetic testing for an inherited mutation?
• Can you refer me to a genetic counselor?
• How can I lower my breast cancer risk?
• When should I start breast cancer screening?
• I have a family history of breast cancer; should I start screening mammograms before age 50?
• I have a mutation in a gene associated with increased breast cancer risk; what other breast screening should I consider?
• I received a dense breast notification at my last mammogram; what type of breast cancer screening do I need?

Open Clinical Trials

The following breast cancer screening clinical trials are currently enrolling participants:

• NCT03220893: Comparison of Molecular Breast Imaging and Digital Breast Tomosynthesis for Screening in Women With Dense Breasts (MBI-DBT). This study will compare MBI, a relatively low-cost functional breast imaging technique, to DBT, the new standard anatomic breast cancer screening technique in women with dense breasts.
• NCT02620852: Women Informed to Screen Depending on Measures of Risk (WISDOM) study.  The goal of this study is to determine if breast cancer screening can be made better by personalizing each woman’s mammogram schedule, compared to the current one-size-fits-all, annual approach.
• NCT03979729: Breast Cancer Screening for Underserved Women: Comparing Outcomes and Lowering Recall Rates With 3D- vs. 2D-mammography is recruiting participants in New Mexico who are over age 40 to improve mammogram utility among underserved women.
• NCT03482557: Contrast Enhanced Spectral Mammography vs. MRI for Breast Cancer Screening is recruiting women 30 years or older who are already getting a breast biopsy. Participants will have a contrast-enhanced mammogram and a breast MRI before the biopsy. Radiologists will compare the images to see if the contrast enhanced mammograms and breast MRI are equally proficient at detecting breast cancer.
• NCT03859492: Screening CEDM in Intermediate and High-Risk Patient Populations is a clinical trial at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona that is testing whether Contrast Enhanced Digital Mammography (CEDM) can improve breast cancer detection among women age 35 years and older who have an intermediate or high risk of breast cancer.
• NCT03233191: Digital Tomosynthesis Mammography and Digital Mammography in Screening Patients for Breast Cancer. The goal of this randomized phase III trial is to evaluate digital tomosynthesis mammography and digital mammography in screening patients for breast cancer.
• NCT03303846: Combined Breast MRI and Biomarker Strategies in Identifying High-risk Breast Cancer Patients trial. This clinical trial is recruiting participants age 18 and older. Study sites are in California, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The following are breast cancer screening or prevention studies enrolling people at high risk for breast cancer.   

• NCT04067726: Denosumab and Mammographic Density in Premenopausal Women With Dense Breasts (TRIDENT). This study is looking at the drug denosumab to learn if it can reduce breast density in high-risk premenopausal women who have dense breasts. 
• The Risk Factor Analysis of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer In Women  with BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2 Mutations. This study seeks to improve researchers’ understanding of how hormonal, reproductive and lifestyle factors may be associated with cancer in high-risk people.
• NCT02620852: Women Informed to Screen Depending on Measures of Risk (WISDOM) study. The goal of this study is to determine if breast cancer screening can be improved by personalizing each woman’s mammogram schedule, compared to the current one-size-fits-all annual approach.

• NCT04674306: Adjuvant Therapy With an Alpha-lactalbumin Vaccine in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. This study is testing a new vaccine to lower the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women with an inherited mutation in BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2. 

Additional risk-management clinical trials for people at high risk for breast cancer may be found here.