Ikonopedia licenses Tyrer-Cuzick risk assessment tool

Why it Matters.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in U.S. women and the second most common cause of cancer death among women worldwide. With this knowledge, greater risk testing must be done, and tools like the Tyrer-Cuzick assessment efficiently identify potential risks.

Breast screening is now recommended to begin at 40 years old. As highlighted in an article in the Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, "The primary benefits of screening for women in their 40s are a reduction in breast cancer mortality, years of life lost to breast cancer, and morbidity of breast cancer treatment by detecting cancers at an earlier stage."

Risk Aware by Ikonopedia, a web application, is designed for all practices to offer patients access to the Tyrer-Cuzick assessment easily and proactively, and if the assessment indicates a higher risk for breast cancer, encourages the additional step of getting an MRI or other / earlier screening. This new offering by Ikonopedia enables care providers easy access to a properly licensed version of the Tyrer-Cuzick assessment tool (v8.0b) for clinical use. Risk Aware by Ikonopedia can be licensed by practices with clinical radiologists, genetics and breast health clinicians, gynecologists, internal medicine physicians, etc.

"Through my experiences as a physician at breast imaging centers, I know the benefits of early detection, and the Tyrer-Cuzick model is proven in evaluating risk and enabling patients to take the next step of getting an MRI (or other intervention) when needed," said Dr. Brett T. Parkinson, medical advisor at Ikonopedia and former medical director of breast imaging at Intermountain Health. "Enabling breast imaging centers the ability to offer the Tyrer-Cuzick risk assessment to their patients is game-changing in detecting breast cancer early."

Background on Tyrer-Cuzick assessment

The Tyrer-Cuzick model is a risk assessment tool that measures a woman's probability of developing breast cancer.

The Tyrer-Cuzick model incorporates tissue density, family history, endogenous hormonal factors, benign disease, risk factors such as age and body mass index, and genetic factors (including BRCA) into a single statistical model. The tool can inform a person's decision-making about genetic counseling and testing in addition to additional screening.

The Tyrer-Cuzick Model Breast Cancer Risk Assessment comes from the International Breast Cancer Intervention Studies (IBIS). Scientists at the Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine, Queen Mary University of London developed it.

Benefits to radiology practices

"Ikonopedia believes that breast health risk assessment should be available to all women as an essential patient education and empowerment tool," said Emily Crane, President and CEO of Ikonopedia. "Providing proactive risk assessments encourages good practice outcomes by supporting the need for more MRI exams or other screening tools." The Tyrer-Cuzick model has been shown in independent studies to be the most consistently accurate when compared to other risk assessment models.

Just as Ikonopedia is dedicated to delivering comprehensive breast health, every woman's health/breast center and radiology practice has the same objective. Giving patients the ability to take the Tyrer-Cuzick risk assessment within a patient portal or via tablet at an appointment provides an added service to catch breast cancer as early as possible, especially when an MRI can be scheduled for patients who are identified as high risk.

For a reasonable cost, radiology practices and non-radiology practices can increase the number of people who self-assess, and each practice can then recommend follow-up care that any individual at risk may need. Please contact Ikonopedia for pricing and licensing information - contact.us@ikonopedia.com.