Keywords:
Performed at one institution, Observational, Retrospective, Cancer, Screening, Mammography, Breast
Authors:
T. Presa 1, M. Moreland2, A. Kumar3, J. K. Juttla4; 1London/UK, 2Maidenhead/UK, 3Slough/UK, 4Harrow/UK
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2020/C-04410
Purpose
Interval cancers are cancers diagnosed after a normal screening mammogram and before the next scheduled screening. Interval cancers are inherent to every screening programme. A regular review of interval cancers is important for the following reasons:
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The rate of interval breast cancers in every screening unit is a key performance indicator for a breast screening programme’s effectiveness.
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For education and learning purposes and continuous professional development of the screening readers, to improve the quality of the programme.
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To help women diagnosed with interval breast cancer to understand their condition (1).
The screening programme’s aim is to diagnose small lesions before they become symptomatic, for better long-term prognosis and lower mortality rates. In an era of overdiagnosis and overtreatment, the ideal would be to diagnose those small cancers with potentially aggressive features (grade 3 or poorly differentiated cancers).
The purpose of this study was to: