UVA developing breast screening model

Researchers at the University of Virginia (UVA) Health System are developing a personalized risk model to recommend how often a woman should have a mammogram based on her particular risk factors, according to UVA.

Dr. Jennifer Harvey and Dr. William Knaus are part of a research team that received a $5.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs to fund the initial phase of a study to develop the risk model, UVA said. The two will spend three years developing and validating the screening model at UVA before testing it through a national study.

The risk model will combine medical data with guidance from women gathered via phone surveys and focus groups on how they would like to approach screenings for breast cancer. It will include breast density, which is one of the strongest indicators of a woman's breast cancer risk, according to UVA.