Suspended
MASAI

A Randomized, Single-blinded, Controlled Trial on the Efficacy of Mammography Screening With Artificial Intelligence - the MASAI Study

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What is being tested

AI screening modality

+ Conventional screening modality
Other
Who is being recruted

From 40 to 74 Years
See all eligibility criteria
How is the trial designed

Screening Study

Interventional
Study Start: April 2021
See protocol details

Summary

Principal SponsorRegion Skane
Last updated: December 13, 2025
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner
Study start date: April 12, 2021Actual date on which the first participant was enrolled.

European guidelines recommend that mammography exams in breast cancer screening are read by two breast radiologists to ensure a high sensitivity. Double reading is, however, resource demanding and still results in missed cancers. Computer-aided detection based on AI has been shown to have similar accuracy as an average breast radiologist. AI can be used as decision support by highlighting suspicious findings in the image as well as a means to triage screen exams according to risk of malignancy. Eligible women will be randomized (1:1) to the intervention (AI-integrated mammography screening) or control arm (conventional mammography screening). In the intervention arm, exams will be analysed with AI and triaged into two groups based on risk of malignancy. Low risk exams will be single read and high risk exams will be double read. The high risk group will contain appx. 10% of the screening population. Within the high-risk group, exams with the highest 1% risk will by default be recalled by the readers with the exception of obvious false positives. AI risk scores and Computer-Aided Detection (CAD)-marks of suspicious calcifications and masses are provided to the reader(s). In the control arm, screen exams are double read without AI (standard of care). Considering the interplay of number of interval cancers and workload, the study will be considered successful if the interval-cancer rate in the intervention arm is not more than 20% larger than in the control arm. If the interval-cancer rate is statistically and clinically significantly lower in the intervention arm than in the control arm, AI-integrated mammography screening will be considered superior to conventional mammography screening.

Official TitleA Randomized, Single-blinded, Controlled Trial on the Efficacy of Mammography Screening With Artificial Intelligence - the MASAI Study 
NCT04838756
Principal SponsorRegion Skane
Last updated: December 13, 2025
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Protocol

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
Design Details
100000 patients to be enrolledTotal number of participants that the clinical trial aims to recruit.
Screening Study
Screening studies test new methods to find diseases or risk factors early—before any symptoms appear. This helps catch health issues sooner, when they may be easier to treat.

How participants are assigned to different groups/arms
In this clinical study, participants are placed into groups randomly, like flipping a coin. This ensures that the study is fair and unbiased, making the results more reliable. By assigning participants by chance, researchers can better compare treatments without external influences.

Other Ways to Assign Participants
Non-randomized allocation
: Participants are assigned based on specific factors, such as their medical condition or a doctor's decision.

None (Single-arm trial)
: If the study has only one group, all participants receive the same treatment, and no allocation is needed.

How treatments are given to participants
Participants are divided into different groups, each receiving a specific treatment at the same time. This helps researchers compare how well different treatments work against each other.

Other Ways to Assign Treatments
Single-group assignment
: Everyone gets the same treatment.

Cross-over assignment
: Participants switch between treatments during the study.

Factorial assignment
: Participants receive different combinations of treatments.

Sequential assignment
: Participants receive treatments one after another in a specific order, possibly based on individual responses.

Other assignment
: Treatment assignment does not follow a standard or predefined design.

How the effectiveness of the treatment is controlled
In a non placebo-controlled study, no participants receive an inert substance (placebo) to compare outcomes. Instead, all participants receive either the experimental treatment or an alternative treatment (often the Standard of Care). This method allows researchers to compare the effects of the experimental treatment with those of a different active intervention, rather than a placebo.

Other Options
Placebo-Controlled
: A placebo is used to compare the effects of the experimental treatment with those of an inert substance, isolating the true treatment effect.

How the interventions assigned to participants is kept confidential
Participants do not know which treatment they are receiving, but researchers do. This helps prevent bias from participants' expectations while still allowing researchers to monitor the study closely.

Other Ways to Mask Information
Open-label
: Everyone knows which treatment is being given.

Double-blind
: Neither participants nor researchers know which treatment is given.

Triple-blind
: Participants, researchers, and outcome assessors do not know which treatment is given.

Quadruple-blind
: Participants, researchers, outcome assessors, and care providers all do not know which treatment is given.

Eligibility

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria: person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Criteria
FemaleBiological sex of participants that are eligible to enroll.
From 40 to 74 YearsRange of ages for which participants are eligible to join.
Healthy volunteers allowedIf individuals who are healthy and do not have the condition being studied can participate.
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria: Women eligible for population-based mammography screening. Exclusion Criteria: None.


Study Plan

Find out more about all the medication administered in this study, their detailed description and what they involve.
Treatment Groups
Study Objectives
2 intervention groups 

are designated in this study

This study does not include a placebo group 

Treatment Groups
Group I
Experimental
AI-integrated mammography screening

Screen exam will be analysed with an AI system (Transpara, ScreenPoint, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) that assigns exams with a cancer-risk score from 1 to 10, as well as presenting CAD-marks at suspicious findings. Exams with risk score 1-9 will be single read and exam with score 10 will be double read. Risk scores and CAD-marks are provided to the reader(s). The reader(s) will decide whether to recall the woman for work-up or not (as per standard of care). In addition, exams with the highest 1% risk will by default be recalled with the exception of obvious false positives.
Group II
Experimental
Conventional mammography screening (standard of care)

Screen exams will be read by two radiologists without the support of AI.
Study Objectives
Primary Objectives

Women with interval cancer per 1000 screens
Secondary Objectives

Women with screen-detected cancer per 1000 screens

Number of recalls per 1000 screens

Women with false positive per 1000 screens

Women with cancer for all recalls

True and false-positive rate

Screen detection of cancer in relation to cancer type, size and stage

Characterization of interval cancers per type, size and stage

Number of screen-readings and number of consensus meetings

The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for AI-integrated mammography screening versus standard of care

Study Centers

These are the hospitals, clinics, or research facilities where the trial is being conducted. You can find the location closest to you and its status.
This study has 1 location
Suspended
Mammography Unit, Unilabs/Skane University HospitalMalmö, SwedenSee the location

SuspendedOne Study Center
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