Study: Abnormal Results From Mammogram Should Lead to Immediate Followup

Women who receive abnormal results from a mammogram screening should be have a followup examination immediately, according to Canadian researchers.

The researchers reported in the journal Cancer that women diagnosed with breast cancer more than 20 weeks after having a mammogram that showed suspicious findings were more likely to have large cancers or cancers that had spread.

Researchers studied data from five breast cancer screening programs, looking at 4,465 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer between 1990 and 1998 after having a mammogram with suspicious findings. The women were grouped according to how much time had gone by between the suspicious findings and a diagnosis of cancer.

Women who waited longer than 20 weeks were at a higher risk of having more serious cancer. Cancers identified 20 to 52 weeks after initial suspicious findings were 20 percent more likely to have spread compared to cancers identified 4 to 12 weeks after an initial screening. Cancers diagnosed one to two years after the initial mammogram were 2.2 times more likely to have spread and those found two to three years later were 3.2 times more likely to have spread, said the study.

Other Sources: Cancer