Dissemination & Diffusion Activities

Two important objectives of the BCSC are to enhance the current understanding of breast cancer screening practices and to help improve the practice of community-based mammography screening. Both objectives are aimed at achieving the ultimate goal of reducing breast cancer mortality.

To pursue these objectives, the participating sites disseminate the results of their research and actively collaborate with screening practices in their communities and other groups interested in and affected by breast cancer screening.

Disseminating BCSC Information and Findings

• Since the consortium's inception, BCSC sites have published over 400 papers across a wide variety of scientific journals, including Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers Prevention, Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), and Radiology. These papers have covered an array of scientific topics including investigating characteristics of women, facilities, radiologists, and equipment that affect performance of screening mammography; biological characteristics of breast tumors that determine whether they can be detected by screening mammography; development of innovative statistical methods; and differences in screening rates among racial/ethnic populations.
• Several BCSC sites also communicate research results to medical professionals and non-professional audiences through designated Web sites and site newsletters.

Working with Communities and Local Radiologists

• BCSC sites provide reports to participating facilities that include information on volume of mammograms read, true positives, false positives, and other data. Radiologists use this information for quality improvement and in their Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) compliance activities.
• Sites present the latest findings from BCSC research at local meetings. These meetings are held for a variety of groups, including radiologists, academicians, health professionals, hospitals, and the general public.
• Several sites have advisory committees that bring radiologists, technologists, pathologists, women with breast cancer, and representatives of other research efforts in the area together to advise the project, receive progress reports, review current research, and discuss issues related to breast health and breast cancer screening.

Enhancing Information Technology Systems

• The BCSC sites work with local mammography facilities to provide and/or enhance systems for collecting and managing community-based mammography data. Several sites also provide data linkages to other data sources, such as Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) and pathology data sources.

Working with Federal and State Partners to Translate Research into Action

• BCSC sites partner with local and state health departments by providing data for health care reports or working to provide linked data to state and local officials.
• Several BCSC sites work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program to help provide access to screening for underserved women.
• The Carolina Mammography Registry (CMR) has partnered with the Health Committee of the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs in several projects as well as working with American Indian epidemiology students on breast health projects related to the American Indian community.

Enhancing Care Delivery

• The BCSC has worked collaboratively with the American College of Radiology (ACR) to develop common data forms that collect patient and radiology information. This collaboration has resulted in improvements in the quality of mammography data collected and has improved the quality of data within the BCSC.