Descrizione del progetto
La tecnologia a microonde per lo screening mammario
In numerosi paesi, lo screening mammario delle donne di età superiore ai 40 anni, più esposte al rischio di sviluppare la malattia, avviene tramite la mammografia, una tecnica basata sulla radiazione ionizzante. Sebbene quest’ultima possa aiutare a rilevare il tumore al seno a uno stadio precoce, la tecnologia non è adatta a tipologie di seno radiograficamente denso. Per ovviare a questo limite, il progetto MammoScreen, finanziato dall’UE, propone di impiegare la tecnologia non invasiva MammoWave per lo screening mammario, che utilizza segnali a microonde non ionizzanti. A differenza della mammografia, la tecnologia MammoWave non comprime il seno ed è molto efficace nel caso di seno denso, rendendola idonea alle giovani donne sotto ai 40 anni.
Obiettivo
Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women worldwide, affecting 1 in 8 women. The figures from WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer estimate that in 2020 worldwide cases of breast cancer accounted for 24% of all cancers in women (2.26 million women and 685,000 deaths globally). Mammography is the gold standard technology for breast screening, which has been demonstrated through different randomized controlled trials to reduce breast cancer mortality. However, it has limitations and potential harms, such as the use of ionizing radiation, breast compression and performance restrictions due to the intrinsic nature of X-rays. In particular, breast density is a restrictive property that can prevent breast cancer detection in mammograms of women with radiographically dense breasts. Other existing techniques (MRI, Ultrasound, biopsy) also suffer from drawbacks. The overall aim of the MammoScreen proposal is to generate evidence about the use of MammoWave (a technology developed by UBT) as screening technique in population-based programs promoted by National or Regional Health Systems, to reach a revolution in breast screening. To do so, the consortium aims to confirm that MammoWave reaches sensitivity>90% and specificity>95% in BC detection on 10000 study participants undergoing regular screening programs. MammoWave uses safe non-invasive and non-ionizing microwave signals, does not apply any compression to the breast and is very effective with dense breasts. Hence it can extend the breast screening to younger women aged 20-49 (98 million women in Europe). This group accounts for ~30% of breast cancers in 2020. A comprehensive health economic assessment will be undertaken in this project and innovative way to implement patient engagement approaches is sought. An effective policy makers’ engagement plan will be carried out to ensure that MammoWave is recommended as screening approach due to the benefits that it brings to women and healthcare systems. This action is part of the Cancer Mission cluster of projects on ‘Prevention, including Screening.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.2.1 - Health Main Programme
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinatore
53100 Siena
Italia