Early screening outcomes before, during, and after a randomized controlled trial with digital breast tomosynthesis

To describe and compare early screening outcomes before, during and after a randomized controlled trial with digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) including synthetic 2D mammography versus standard digital mammography (DM) (To-Be 1) and a follow-up cohort study using DBT (To-Be 2).

Retrospective results of 125,020 screening examinations from four consecutive screening rounds performed in 2014-2021 were described and compared for pre-To-Be 1 (DM), To-Be 1 (DM or DBT), To-Be 2 (DBT), and post-To-Be 2 (DM) cohorts. Descriptive analyses of rates of recall, biopsy, screen-detected and interval cancer, distribution of histopathologic tumor characteristics and time spent on image interpretation and consensus were presented for the four rounds including five cohorts, one cohort in each screening round except for the To-Be 1 trail, which included a DBT and a DM cohort. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% CIs was calculated for recall and cancer detection rates.

Rate of screen-detected cancer was 0.90% for women screened with DBT in To-Be 2 and 0.64% for DM in pre-To-Be 1. The rates did not differ for the To-Be 1 DM (0.61%), To-Be 1 DBT (0.66%) and post-To-Be 2 DM (0.67%) cohorts. The interval cancer rates ranged between 0.13% and 0.20%. The distribution of histopathologic tumor characteristics did not differ between the cohorts.

Screening all women with DBT following a randomized controlled trial in an organized, population-based screening program showed a temporary increase in the rate of screen-detected cancer.