Annual Mammography Screening Tied to Better Outcomes
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Sept. 3, 2024 -- Annual mammography screening for breast cancer is associated with a lower risk for a late-stage diagnosis and better overall survival across clinical and demographic subgroups, according to a study published online Aug. 21 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Margarita L. Zuley, M.D., from University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues evaluated late-stage cancer rates and overall survival for different mammography screening intervals using a real-world institutional research data mart. The analysis included 8,145 patients with both a cancer registry record of new breast cancer diagnosis and prediagnosis screening history between 2004 and 2019.
The researchers found that the percentage of late-stage cancers diagnosed increased significantly with screening interval: 9 percent for annual, 14 percent for biennial, and 19 percent for intermittent screening. When adjusting for age, race, and menopausal status, findings persisted. Additionally, biennial and intermittent screening groups had substantially worse overall survival than those screened annually (hazard ratios, 1.42 and 2.69, respectively).
"We recognize that there are potential harms associated with calling women back for additional screening, but I don't think that these harms outweigh the risk of missing cancers and women dying as a result," Zuley said in a statement. "We're also working on testing screening tools that have lower false positives than mammography and pushing on every front to identify the most cost-effective and accurate way of taking care of our patients."
Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical and medical imaging industries.
Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted September 2024
Read this next
Swept-Source Anterior Segment OCT Can Help Distinguish Early Childhood Glaucoma
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- The noninvasive swept-source anterior-segment optical coherence tomography (SS-ASOCT) can diagnose early-onset childhood glaucoma, according to a study...
Semaglutide Plus Intensive Behavioral Therapy Most Beneficial for Weight Loss
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Weight loss treatment combining personalized semaglutide with intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) yields weight loss similar to that reported in...
Artificial Intelligence Flags Interval Breast Cancers Visible at Screening
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Artificial intelligence (AI) more often flags and accurately localizes interval breast cancers (IBCs) that are visible at screening than true interval or...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.