Women who miss regular mammography may be diagnosed with later stage breast cancer than women who undergo regular annual screenings.
Missed mammograms increase the risk of a later breast cancer diagnosis, according to a study in the American Journal of Roentgenology.
Researchers from Marshfield Clinic Weston Center in Weston, Wis., and the University of Queensland in Australia undertook a retrospective study to identify patient characteristics associated with missed mammograms and associations between the missed screenings and later diagnosis of breast cancer. A total of 1,368 cases of primary breast cancer diagnosed from 2002 to 2008 were examined. Patients were a median age of 62.7 years.
Results showed that regardless of age, 1,428 women who underwent mammography were more likely to be diagnosed with stage 0 to II breast cancer than women who did not have a mammogram. In addition, “The number of mammographic examinations in the five years before diagnosis was inversely related to stage,” wrote the authors. Among the women who missed their last five annual screenings, 57.3 percent (94 out of 164) were diagnosed with late-stage cancers.
Women with a family history of breast cancer were most likely to undergo mammography, as were women who had had previous “medical encounters.” Distance from mammography centers also played a role in screening. The farther away women were from the centers, the odds of being screened dropped.
“Missing a mammogram, even in the year before a breast cancer diagnosis, increases the chance of a cancer diagnosis at a later stage,” the authors wrote.
European Society of Breast Imaging Issues Updated Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations
April 24th 2024One of the recommendations from the European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI) is annual breast MRI exams starting at 25 years of age for women deemed to be at high risk for breast cancer.
New Research Examines Socioeconomic Factors with Mammography No-Shows
April 10th 2024Patients with Medicaid or means-tested insurance were over 27 percent more likely to miss mammography appointments, and only 65 percent of women with three of more adverse social determinants of health had a mammography exam in a two-year period covering 2020 and 2021, according to new research and a report from the CDC.
Mammography Study: AI Improves Breast Cancer Detection and Reduces Reading Time with DBT
April 3rd 2024An emerging artificial intelligence (AI) model demonstrated more than 12 percent higher specificity and reduced image reading time by nearly six seconds in comparison to unassisted radiologist interpretation of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) images.