Michael Michell

He has served as Chairman, National Breast Radiologists QA Committee 1992-2001, Chairman BSBR 2007-2009, DoH Advisory Committee Radiology Representative 1998-2007 and President Symposium Mammographicum until 2025. His research and teaching has focussed on the implementation and evaluation of new technology in clinical practice, including image guided breast biopsy techniques, and over the last decade, tomosynthesis. He has lectured and conducted workshops on tomosynthesis in the UK and abroad and is the Chief Investigator of PROSPECTS. 

PROSPECTS is a prospective randomized trial of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) plus standard 2D digital mammography (2DDM) or synthetic 2D mammography (S2D) compared to standard 2DDM screening.  The aim of the study is to obtain robust data on both the effectiveness and cost of screening with DBT compared to 2DDM to inform decision making on the implementation of DBT for routine screening in the NHS.

Research Ethics approval was obtained in February 2017, recruitment to the trial began in December 2018. Women aged 50-70 have been invited to participate in the trial at 8 NHSBSP screening centres in England. More than 70,000 women have participated and recruitment was completed at the end of March 2025. Preliminary results will be presented including cancer detection, grade and size of screen detected cancers, recall rates, biopsy rates. A timetable for further analysis including interval cancer rates will be summarized.

Current trial collaborators work includes

-             economic analysis of screening with DBT vs standard 2DDM
-             measurement of  the performance of film readers
-             assessment of AI and  ‘thick slice’ tomosynthesis images in film reading

Trial Sponsor - King’s College Hospital NHS Trust, London

Trial Funder - Hologic