Background and history

Malmö has a strong tradition of preventive medicine projects and our research group has a long-standing experience especially in mammography screening for breast cancer. Professor Bertil Hood, responsible for the Malmö Preventive Project, was instrumental through the initiation of the idea of a large mammography trial, inspired by the HIP-study in New York, USA during the 1960’s. Dr Ingvar Andersson, radiologist and associate professor of radiology, took the lead and paved the way with pioneering randomized, controlled mammography screening trials in Malmö in the 1970 and 80’s together with the late Lars Janzon, professor of epidemiology. In addition to the preventive approaches with large cohorts, a fruitful collaboration was also established with the medical radiation physics group, at that time led by Professor Sören Mattsson. This successful partnership has rendered numerous publications regarding dose optimization, image quality and technical development within the field of breast imaging. The successors, Sophia Zackrisson, radiologist and professor of radiology and Anders Tingberg, associate professor of medical radiation physics now carry the tradition with the recent population-based screening trial investigating 3D mammography (breast tomosynthesis) as a screening tool (The Malmö Breast Tomosynthesis Screening Trial, MBTST). The research groups Diagnostic Radiology and Medical Radiation physics at the Department of Translational Medicine in Malmö hence continue the close collaboration through Sophia Zackrisson and Lars E Olsson, professor of medical radiation physics and Anders Tingberg and co-workers with a clear focus on improved clinically cancer imaging.