An interview with Constantine Gatsonis

The ACR-RSNA Fellowship in Clinical Trials of Medical Imaging: reflections from the 2002 recipients.

The American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN): Research Educational Opportunities for Academic Radiology

Opportunities for Research with the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) Image Database

The Institute of Medicine, The National Cancer Institute, and Clinical Trials

The metabolic information provided by PET and SPECT has great potential for diagnosing and staging disease, customizing treatment doses for a particular patient, and tracking a patients' response to treatment. However, quantifying the information in these images remains challenging. This presentation will review the sources of variability in the data, grouped into three broad categories: patient — related factors (e.g. body habitus, medications); scanner‐related factors (spatial and energy resolution, sensitivity, data acquisition mode (2D or 3D), attenuation and scatter correction method, image reconstruction algorithm, respiratory and cardiac motion‐correction method); and operator‐related factors such as acquisition and reconstruction protocols, instrument and image quality control, instrument calibrations, and method of image analysis. The impact of these variables on quantification will be discussed, along with methods for minimizing those that are controllable.The presentation will conclude with a review of current efforts by government agencies, professional organizations, academic institutions, and sponsors of multicenter trials to grapple with the additional complexities that arise from combining data from multiple patients at multiple sites. Particular emphasis will be placed on the author's experience as a member of the PET Quality Assurance Committee at the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) PET Core Lab, which has credentialed more than 100 PET scanners for participation in quantitative PET multicenter trials.Research partially supported by ACRIN. ACRIN is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and receives additional support from industry partners, other governmental agencies and the ACRIN Fund for Imaging Innovation.NOTE: ACRIN is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and receives additional support from industry partners, other governmental agencies and the ACRIN Fund for Imaging Innovation.Educational Objectives:1. Understand the factors that affect the variability and accuracy of PET and SPECT biomarker quantification, with particular emphasis on scanner‐related parameters.2. Understand the importance of minimizing variability in order to enhance the ability to distinguish signal from noise.3. Understand the efforts currently underway to standardize acquisition and processing protocols and to monitor equipment performance through credentialing and periodic quality control checks.

NCI Cooperative Clinical Trials Groups proceed with reorganization

A Survey of Clinical Research Coordinators in the Cooperative Group Setting of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN)

The American College of Radiology Imaging Network—Clinical Trials of Diagnostic Imaging and Image-Guided Treatment

Economic, Legal, and Ethical Rationales for the ACRIN National Lung Screening Trial of CT Screening for Lung Cancer

The American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) is a cooperative group funded by the National Cancer Institute and dedicated to developing and conducting clinical trials of diagnostic imaging and image-guided treatment technologies. ACRIN's six disease site committees are responsible for developing scientific strategies and resultant trials within the framework of ACRIN's five key hypotheses: (a) Screening and early detection with imaging can reduce cancer-specific mortality. (b) Less invasive image-guided therapeutic methods can reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with treating cancer. (c) Molecular-based physiologic and functional imaging can improve the diagnosis and staging of cancer, thus improving treatment. (d) Functional imaging can portray the effectiveness of treatment earlier and more accurately, thus reducing mortality and improving the likelihood of a cure. (e) Informatics and other "smart systems" can improve the evaluation of patients with cancer, thus leading to better and more effective treatments. This article details ACRIN's research strategy according to disease site through the year 2007.

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) and each participating site and by the IRB and the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program at the National Cancer Institute. The study was monitored by an independent Data Safety and Monitoring Board, which received interim analyses of data to ensure that the study would be terminated early if indicated by trends in the outcomes. The ACRIN, which is funded by the National Cancer Institute, conducted the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST) primarily to compare the diagnostic accuracy of digital and screen-film mammography in asymptomatic women presenting for screening for breast cancer. Over the 25.5 months of enrollment, a total of 49 528 women were included at the 33 participating sites, which used five different types of digital mammography equipment. All participants underwent both screen-film and digital mammography. The digital and screen-film mammograms of each subject were independently interpreted by two radiologists. If findings of either examination were interpreted as abnormal, subsequent work-up occurred according to the recommendations of the interpreting radiologist. Breast cancer status was determined at biopsy or follow-up mammography 11-15 months after study entry. In addition to the measurement of diagnostic accuracy by using the interpretations of mammograms at the study sites, DMIST included evaluations of the relative cost-effectiveness and quality-of-life effects of digital versus screen-film mammography. Six separate reader studies using the de-identified archived DMIST mammograms will also assess the diagnostic accuracy of each of the individual digital mammography machines versus screen-film mammography machines, the effect of breast density on diagnostic accuracy of digital and screen-film mammography, and the effect of different rates of breast cancer on the diagnostic accuracy in a reader study.

The 11th International Conference on Health Policy Statistics (ICHPS) conference was successfully held from October 7 to 9, 2015, in Providence, Rhode Island, espousing the theme “Statistical Science at the Forefront of Health Policy Research”. Authors of research presented at ICHPS 2015, in both posters and talks, were invited to submit their completed papers in two special issues of Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology. In addition, the issues feature interviews with the winners of the American Statistical Association’s Health Policy Statistics Section of the Long-Term Excellence and Mid-career Awards.

9101 Background: Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) can destroy tissue in a defined area. Single institutions have reported that RFA can reduce pain from bone metastases. To confirm this, the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) completed a multicenter study of RFA for bone metastases. Methods: Eligible patients had bone pain in one dominant site: tumor size < 8 cm, and location > 1 cm from the spinal cord or cauda equina. RFA was performed under CT guidance. The Memorial Pain Assessment Card was used prior to RFA and repeated daily for two weeks, and at 1 and 3 months after RFA. AEs were recorded in addition to four different pain assessment measures: pain relief, patient mood, pain intensity, and pain severity. Results: Fifty-six patients had RFA at 9 centers. Metastatic sites were pelvis (24), chest wall (19), thoracolumbar spine (8), and extremities (5). Six out of 56 patients experienced at least one adverse event of grade 3 or higher, yielding an AE rate of 10.7% (95%CI is 2.6% to18.8%). AEs attributed directly to RFA were nerve injury in 2 patients. Of the 56 participants, 43 completed the 1 month follow-up and 33 completed the 3 month follow-up. At the time of this analysis, assuming that missing data were missing at random and after adjusting for all covariates, RFA showed significant effect in reducing pain at 1 and 3 month follow-up for all 4 pain assessment measures. The average increase in pain relief from pre-RFA to 1 month follow-up is 26.4 (P<0.0001) and the increase from pre-RFA to 3 month follow-up is 17.2 (P=0.003). The average increase in mood from pre-RFA to 1 month follow-up is 21.5 (P<0.0001) and the increase from pre-RFA to 3 month follow-up is 16.3 (P=0.001). The average decrease in pain intensity from pre-RFA to 1 month follow-up is 25.9 (P<0.0001) and the decrease from pre-RFA to 3 month follow-up is 13.0 (P=0.02). The odds of being in lower pain severity at 1 month follow-up is 12.6 (P<.0001) times higher than that at pre-RFA, and the odds at 3 month follow-up is 7.1 (P<0.0001) times higher than that at pre- RFA. Conclusions: This cooperative group trial confirms that RFA can safely palliate pain due to bone metastases. ACRIN receives funding from the National Cancer Institute through the grants U01 CA079778 and U01 CA080098. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

The Handbook of the political economy of financial crises

This paper describes the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN), a new National Cancer Institute cooperative group, formed to perform multicenter clinical trials in diagnostic imaging and imaging-guided therapeutic technologies. The administrative structure of the organization and the mechanism by which trials are considered and approved for support are detailed. The advantages of this funding mechanism over previous NCI efforts are discussed. Detailed descriptions of the breast imaging protocols that ACRIN will open in the near future are provided. The quality of radiology as an academic discipline is likely to improve due to the infrastructure and training provided by this new organization.