Solis Women's Health has joined a national clinical study designed to evaluate whether digital mammography, when combined with the somo v Automated Breast Ultrasound System (ABUS) from U-Systems (Sunnyvale, CA), is more sensitive in detecting breast lesions compared to mammography alone in women with dense breasts.

Solis said that the Somo Insight multi-center study will enroll up to 20,000 women at clinical study sites in the US to determine the sensitivity of mammography and somo v together, compared to mammography alone for women with greater than 50% dense breast tissue. Eligible candidates will receive both mammography and somo v Automated Breast Ultrasound.

somo v ABUS technology uses sound waves at a safe frequency to create images of the breast tissue. Ultrasound has been shown to find cancer that may not be visible with mammography alone, in women who have dense breasts. Since the first participant was enrolled in March 2009, the Somo Insight clinical study has found a significant number of breast cancers that were not seen on the mammogram.

Ron Ho, president and CEO of U-Systems said: “The somo v ABUS technology has been in use since 2005 as a diagnostic tool. To-date, we have enrolled more than 6,000 women in the clinical study. We are honored to partner with Dr. Lander and Solis Women’s Health for the Somo Insight Clinical Study as we believe that somo v ABUS technology will play a vital role in significantly advancing breast cancer screening.”

Marla Lander, principal investigator for the Somo Insight clinical study at The Beast Health Center, said: “We are excited to participate in this new study designed to determine if somo v Automated Breast Ultrasound can identify breast cancers not seen with traditional mammography alone, in women with dense breasts.

“We believe if this study is successful, it will be a tremendous advancement in early breast cancer detection. Mammography alone may not be enough to detect breast cancer in women with dense breasts. So we encourage women in Southern California to inquire about the Somo Insight study, particularly if they have been informed that they have a high breast density.”