Fighting cancer with greater accuracy
Breast cancer is the most widespread form of cancer among women. Experts suggest that some 350,000 European women will be diagnosed with it this year. Researchers in the EU-funded HAMAM ('Highly accurate breast cancer diagnosis through integration of biological knowledge, novel imaging modalities, and modelling') project believe that early detection is currently the most effective defence against breast cancer, and are developing ways to make more accurate diagnoses. HAMAM has been funded EUR 3.6 million under the Information and communication technologies (ICT) Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Until the causes of breast cancer are better understood, early detection and accurate diagnosis is the best defence, experts believe. The sooner breast cancer is detected, the sooner treatment can be provided, and the more likely a successful outcome. Modern medicine offers several tools for breast cancer diagnosis including mammogram and ultrasound screenings, and biopsies. New or improved diagnostic tools (e.g. x-ray tomosynthesis, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission mammography, automated 3D (three-dimensional) ultrasound) also contribute to identifying and characterising the morphology and function of a suspicious breast lump. Despite the enormous technological strides, however, a single solution for breast cancer detection is still out of reach. Additionally, existing diagnostic methods are not foolproof, and tumours can often go undetected (even biopsies of cancerous lumps can produce inaccurate readings). If breast cancer is diagnosed, the current challenge in distinguishing between those cancers that do not pose a risk to health with those that do means some women are forced to undergo arduous therapy such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, unnecessarily. The issue at stake is one of accuracy: how can technology help us make more informed, early and precise breast cancer diagnoses? The answer, according to the HAMAM team, is to draw on all the benefits of the diagnostic tools currently on the market, and integrate these seamlessly into one clinical workstation. The project follows in the footsteps of two EU-funded projects: SCREEN ('Development of a soft-copy reading environment for digital mammography in breast cancer screening') and SCREEN-TRIAL ('The screening mammography soft-copy reading trial'). Both were funder under the 'User-friendly Information Society' Thematic Programme of the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) and contributed significantly to the field of European breast cancer diagnosis. Launched in September 2008, the HAMAM team has already produced a prototype workstation. The system allows a doctor to view multiple sources of information simultaneously, including a patient's history and other information, alongside different diagnostic images. The workstation will eventually be connected to an extensive database capable of providing access to other images and clinical data in order to help guide a clinician on the best way forward for their patient. HAMAM is led by the European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR) in Austria. It is collaboration between scientists, clinicians and IT (information technology) experts from seven European institutes, and a team from the Boca Raton Community Hospital in the US. Commenting on how the EU-US partnership is a good way to combine different perspectives on the disease, EIBIR's Sonja Guttenbrunner said: 'Breast cancer is a worldwide issue, both epidemiologically and economically, but handled differently in Europe than in the US.' German industrial partner Mevis Medical Solutions is expected to market the workstation when the project formally concludes in 2011.
