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Breast screening with ultrasound in patients with mammography-negative dense
breasts
A previous study showed an incremental cancer detection rate of about 30% by adding
routine ultrasonography in subjects with negativa mammography and dense breast. Still
such an increase in detection might not be necessarily a benefit, e.g., it might account for
overdiagnosis of not aggressive tumors. This study analyses the frequency of interval cancer
in non-dense breast screened by mammography and in dense breasts screened by
mammography + ultrasonography. In theory one would expect more interval cancers in
dense breasts, as density reduces mammography sensitivity due to a masking effect. The
finding of a similar (higher over age 50) frequency of interval cancers in dense as compared
to non-dense breast is a convincing prove that ultrasonography really improves the
sensitivity of mammography by reducing its false negatives.
Bibliographic Reference:
Corsetti V et al.: "Evidence of the effect of adjunct ultrasound screening in women with
mammography negative dense breasts: Interval breast cancers at 1year follow-up", Eur J
Cancer. 2011 May:47(7): 1021-6
Stefano Ciatto
Centro di Prevenzione Senologica, Verona, Italy
http://www.senology.org/Edit_Ciatto2011.htm 01/07/2011