Breast cancer screening in patients with cancers other than breast.

Abstract

e13095 Background: Screening mammography can detect early breast cancers and reduce subsequent cancer mortality. However, there is a lack of consensus as to what should trigger screening discontinuation. This absence of clear-cut guidelines means that many patients with advanced malignancies continue screening despite unclear benefit. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of female patients diagnosed with a non-breast malignancy to explore the incidence and effects of screening mammography. Female patients, who were diagnosed between 2007 and 2012 with a non-breast malignancy stage II or higher, were cross-referenced with the Vermont mammography screening logs from January 1, 2007 to September 30, 2014. Additional data was collected through chart reviews, in May 2016. Results: Of 1501 women, 398 (26%) who met the above criteria had a screening mammogram within first 5 years of their cancer diagnosis. Of these 398 women, 193 (48.5%) were alive without cancer, 132 (33.2%) had died, and 73 (18.3%) were alive with cancer at the time of chart review. Of those who died, 84 (63.6%) had a stage III or IV cancer. Eighteen (4.5%) had a breast biopsy following a suspicious screening mammogram, resulting in 13 (3.3%) benign diagnoses and 5 (1.3%) breast cancer diagnoses. No patient died of breast cancer. Conclusions: Female patients diagnosed with an advanced non-breast malignancy have a mortality risk that outweighs the known breast cancer mortality benefit from screening mammography. [Table: see text]