Aim: To compare the breast cancer stages found during MG alone surveillance in women at increased risk with those detected in a program where MRI was added.
Methods: Stage results of in a retrospective MG alone study of prospectively followed patients, compared with the pooled stage results of breast cancers MG/MRI surveillance.
Results: One hundred and-fifty-one patients were detected with a first or contralateral breast cancer. Interval cancers were diagnosed in 56% of the BRCA1, 42% of the BRCA2 and 28% of the non-BRCA carriers. A considerable proportion of the breast cancers were detected with breast self-examination alone: 41%, 27% and 31% respectively. Nevertheless the established goals for biennial population screening were reached, except for the BRCA2 carriers, but this group was small. Comparison with pooled data from published MG/MRI surveillance studies did not show significant differences in the stages, except for the BRCA2 carriers.
Conclusion: Breast cancers detected in a MG alone surveillance program for women at increased risk fulfill most goals set for population screening except for the BRCA2 carriers. Breast self-examination appears to be a valuable additional detection method especially for BRCA1 carriers, who are at risk of developing a highly proliferating breast cancer.