title: Breast cancer screening in patients with cancers other than breast.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Screening mammography can detect early breast cancers and reduce subsequent cancer mortality. However, there is a lack of consensus as to when to discontinue screening. The absence of clear-cut guidelines on when not to screen 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 diagnosed with a non-breast malignancy stage II or higher between 2007 and 2012 were identified through the Vermont Cancer Registry and cross-referenced with mammography screening logs from January 1, 2007 to September 30, 2014. Additional data were collected through chart review, in May 2016.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-six percent of women (398/1501) with a stage II or greater cancer (other than breast) diagnosed between 2007 and 2012 had a screening mammogram within the first 5 years of their 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 screening mammogram suspicious for cancer, resulting in 13 (3.3%) benign diagnoses and 5 (1.3%) breast cancer diagnoses. No patient died of breast cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Except for highly curable cancers, female patients diagnosed with an advanced non-breast malignancy experienced mortality that outweighs a breast cancer mortality benefit from screening mammography as estimated from prior studies.
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont Cancer Center, 89 Beaumont Ave - Given E214, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Robin B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Leopold
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont Cancer Center, 89 Beaumont Ave - Given E214, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont Cancer Center, 89 Beaumont Ave - Given E214, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Concannon
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont Cancer Center, 89 Beaumont Ave - Given E214, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Alissa D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Correll
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont Cancer Center, 89 Beaumont Ave - Given E214, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: LaPenta
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont Cancer Center, 89 Beaumont Ave - Given E214, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Maurer
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont Cancer Center, 89 Beaumont Ave - Given E214, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Brian L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Sprague
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont Cancer Center, 89 Beaumont Ave - Given E214, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Sally D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Herschorn
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont Cancer Center, 89 Beaumont Ave - Given E214, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA. claire.verschraegen@osumc.edu.
authors.forename: Claire F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Verschraegen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008327:Mammography; D008875:Middle Aged; D016609:Neoplasms, Second Primary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult