Innovative and safe microwave-based imaging technology to make breast cancer screening more accurate, inclusive and female-friendly

乳腺癌(BC)是全世界女性最常见的癌症，每8名女性中就有1名患病。世卫组织国际癌症研究机构的数据估计，2020年全球乳腺癌病例占所有女性癌症病例的24%(全球226万女性和685,000人死亡)。乳房X光检查是乳房筛查的黄金标准技术，通过不同的随机对照试验证明了这一点，以降低乳腺癌死亡率。然而，它也有局限性和潜在的危害，如使用电离辐射，乳房按压和性能限制由于X射线的内在性质。具体地说，乳房密度是一种限制性属性，可以防止在X光检查乳房致密的妇女的乳房X光检查中发现乳腺癌。其他现有的技术(核磁共振、超声、活组织检查)也存在缺陷。MammoScreen提案的总体目标是产生证据，证明在国家或地区卫生系统推动的基于人群的项目中使用MammoWave(由UBT开发的一种技术)作为筛查技术，以实现乳房筛查的革命。为此，该联盟的目标是在接受常规筛查计划的10000名研究参与者中确认MammoWave在BC检测中的敏感度和特异度分别为90%和95%。MammoWave使用安全、非侵入性和非电离的微波信号，不会对乳房施加任何压力，对致密的乳房非常有效。因此，它可以将乳房筛查扩大到20-49岁的年轻女性(欧洲有9800万女性)。到2020年，这一群体约占乳腺癌的30%。该项目将进行全面的卫生经济评估，并寻求实施患者参与方法的创新方法。将实施一项有效的政策制定者参与计划，以确保MammoWave被推荐为筛查方法，因为它给妇女和医疗保健系统带来了好处。这项行动是癌症使命关于“预防，包括筛查”项目集群的一部分。

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 aimsto confirm that MammoWave reachessensitivity>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.