On Sept. 4. 2001, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the American College of Radiology Imaging Network launched a 3-year multicenter study of digital mammography, called the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST). This trial was the first large, multicenter study to compare digital mammography to standard mammography for the detection of breast cancer.

The DMIST planned to enroll 49,500 women in the U.S. and Canada to compare digital mammography to standard film mammography to determine how the new technique compared to the traditional method of screening for breast cancer.