title: Annual mammography screening: is it necessary?
abstract: Recent recommendations from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force suggest that screening mammography for women should be biennial starting at age 50 years and continue to age 74 years. With these recommendations in mind, we proposed a study to evaluate women at our institution in  whom breast cancer is diagnosed within 1 year of a previously benign mammogram. A retrospective chart review was performed over a 4-year period. Only patients who had both diagnostic mammograms and previous mammograms performed at our institution and a pathologic diagnosis of breast cancer  were included. Benign mammograms were defined as either Breast Imaging Reporting And Data System 1 or 2. Analysis of the time elapse between benign mammogram and subsequent mammogram indicative of the diagnosis of breast cancer was performed. A total of 205 patients were included. The average  age was 64 years. From our results, 48 patients, 23 per cent of the total, had a documented benign mammogram at 12 months or less before a breast cancer diagnosis. One hundred forty-three (70%) patients had a benign mammogram at 18 months or less prior. This study raises concern that 2 years  between screening mammograms may delay diagnosis and possible treatment options for many women.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75206, USA.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hegar
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Bharat
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kakarala
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mangram
authors.forename: Ernest
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dunn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology