October 26, 2016 — The Tomosynthesis Mammography Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST), the first large-scale breast cancer screening trial in nearly 25 years, has been approved for funding by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG- ACRIN) leading the trial is now recruiting medical facilities as it prepares to open the trial in mid-2017.
TMIST will enroll 165,000 asymptomatic women in the United States and Canada between the ages of 45 and 74 to compare the incidence of advanced cancers in those screened for four years with digital breast tomosynthesis versus standard digital mammography. The study aims to provide a modern basis for the continued use of mammography for breast cancer screening.
Interested medical imaging providers can attend one of two TMIST informational sessions while at the upcoming Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting, Nov. 27-Dec. 3 in Chicago.
To participate in TMIST, a medical facility must be (1) located in the U.S. or Canada, (2) able to provide both imaging methods in the same location, and (3) a member of a research group in the NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN), either directly or through the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP). TMIST will require nearly 100 sites, estimating that each will enroll about four to five women per day to reach the accrual goal in about three years.
TMIST image acquisition, storage and sharing will be carried out at the American College of Radiology (ACR) Center for Research and Innovation. Constantine A. Gatsonis, Ph.D., at the ECOG-ACRIN Biostatistics and Data Management Center at Brown University Center for Statistician Sciences, will lead the TMIST statistical analysis.
The NTCN research groups are the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network, ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group, NRG Oncology, and SWOG.
For more information: www.ecog-acrin.org
March 13, 2026 
