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Breast Cancer Outcomes Improved With History of Screening Mammography

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on April 21, 2025.

MONDAY, April 21, 2025 -- Prior screening mammography is associated with earlier stage at breast cancer diagnosis and lower breast cancer mortality, according to a study published online April 15 in JAMA Network Open.

Sida Huang, from the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues conducted a cohort study using linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare data of women aged at least 70 years, diagnosed with estrogen receptor-positive or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer from 2010 to 2017 to examine whether having a prior screening is associated with earlier stage at breast cancer diagnosis.

Overall, 77.5 percent of 13,028 women had at least one prior screening. In addition, 29.3 percent of women were diagnosed with later-stage disease at the time of diagnosis (T2+ or N1+). The researchers found that compared with no prior screening, prior screening was associated with significantly lower odds of later-stage breast cancer diagnosis (adjusted odds ratio, 0.46) and a lower hazard of breast cancer-specific death (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.63), in multivariable analyses. Compared with having one prior screening, having three or four prior screenings was associated with a significantly reduced hazard of breast cancer-specific mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.63).

"Prior screening mammography was associated with earlier stage at breast cancer diagnosis and lower breast cancer mortality in women aged 70 years and older with screen-detected breast cancers," the authors write. "Our findings support the potential for routine screening to improve breast cancer outcomes."

One author disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry; a second author disclosed ties to Novian Health.

Abstract/Full Text

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 April 2025

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