Stages of screen-detected breast cancer

Purpose of study

To present the stages and tumour size of screen-detected breast cancers during the first and second round of the Greek mammography screening programme.

Materials and methods

The target population was women aged 50-64 years, permanent residents of Ilia and Messinia. During the first and second round of our screening programme, 11 909 and 13 562 women were screened, respectively. Eighty-seven cases of breast cancer were detected. The required treatment was offered to women by the medical staff of four Reference Hospitals. Tumour size and pathological stage according to TNM classification were recorded for each patient.

Results

During the first round, 46 breast cancer cases were detected among 102 women who were operated on (benign to malignant ratio 1.21:1). The size of these screen-detected tumours was as follows: Tis 2, T1 22, T2 20, T3 1 and T4 1. Disease stage was: stage 0, 2; stage I, 15; stage II, 27; stage III, 2. Of the 65 biopsied women during the second round, 41had cancer (benign to malignant ratio 0.58:1). Tumour size was as follows: Tis 5, T1 26, T2 8, T3 1 and T4 1. Disease stage of the screen-detected cancers was: stage 0, 5; stage I, 17; stage II, 16; stage III, 1; stage IV, 1; and unknown, 1.

Conclusions

Screen-detected cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and the number of smaller tumours (< T2) in the second round were increased. The percentage of DCIS/all cancers was raised from 4.3% (2/46) to 12.2% (5/41). Biopsy rate was reduced almost by half in the second round. Additionally, reduction of the benign to malignant biopsy ratio was achieved. This improvement was due to the experience gained and the application of the European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Mammography screening.