Population screening detected non-lymphomatous non-mammary metastases to the breast. A radiology multimodality pictorial essay

This pictorial essay is a presentation of imaging appearances of non-mammary cancer metastases to the breast detected in asymptomatic women attending BreastScreen Western Australia (BSWA) from 2005 to 2019. Haematological malignancies were excluded. Thirteen cases of histologically proven extramammary metastases to breast were identified from the BSWA data base. Five cases were ovarian cancer metastases, 3 melanoma metastases, 2 of adenocarcinoma metastases with foregut primary and one each of endometrial, renal and carcinoid metastases. Metastasis to breast commonly presented as circumscribed masses (N = 12) at mammography and as hypoechoic masses (N = 10) at ultrasound with a predilection to upper outer quadrant of breast. Metastases to breast from non-mammary primary while a rare occurrence in a breast screening program, may be the first clinical presentation of malignancy in asymptomatic women.

Participation in breast cancer screening among breast cancer survivors -A nationwide register-based cohort study

The aim of this study was to analyse if breast cancer survivors without other breast imaging surveillance attend population-based screening differently than women not previously diagnosed with breast cancer. Further, to analyse if any differences depended on the women's age and years since previous cancer diagnosis. The study was a register-based retrospective cohort study of all women invited to participate in the national breast cancer screening programme in 2015-2016. Participation rates were calculated for breast cancer survivors without breast imaging within 21 months (2-4 years, 4-6 years, 6-10 years and more than 10 years after diagnosis) and for women without previous breast cancer. Relative differences in participation rates between the two groups were calculated. A total of 679,990 women were included in the study (2.6% breast cancer survivors). For breast cancer survivors, participation rates increased with increasing number of years since the previous cancer diagnosis peaking at 80.3% if the cancer diagnosis was more than 10 years ago. For women with no previous breast cancer, participation rate was 80.3%. The relative difference in participation was highest close to the breast cancer diagnosis and for the youngest women participation rates remained lower among breast cancer survivors even more than 10 years after the diagnosis. In conclusion, regardless of age and years since previous breast cancer diagnosis, breast cancer survivors had lower or similar participation rates than women with no previous cancer diagnosis. This indicated that as many as one fifth of the breast cancer survivors are at risk of inadequate surveillance.

Breast screening for survivors of breast cancer: A systematic review

There is a large and growing population of women who have a personal history of breast cancer (PHBC). This systematic review was undertaken to explore the outcomes of surveillance mammography in breast cancer survivors, and to examine the evidence for screening these women within an organized population-based screening program. We searched Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL Issue 6, 2015), OVID MEDLINE and EMBASE (January 2012 to June 22, 2015) for English-language studies of surveillance of the target population. A study author extracted study outcomes, which were audited by a research assistant. One systematic review and 5 primary studies were included. These showed that surveillance mammography may reduce breast cancer-specific mortality through early/asymptomatic detection (Hazard Ratio for those without compared to with symptoms:HR: 0.64, 95% CI 0.55 - 0.74). Three studies showed that semi-annual mammography is likely not of greater benefit than annual mammography. No evidence was found to suggest that surveillance mammography for women with a PHBC should not be conducted within an organized screening program. The small evidence-base had a high level of heterogeneity in populations, interventions and outcomes. Based on this review, organized screening programs should reassess their guidelines on surveillance mammography and consider including women with a PHBC.

Thermography in breast cancer diagnosis, screening and risk assessment: systematic review

SUMMARY Thermography uses the pattern of heat measured on the skin surface to image the breast. This review examines the evidence regarding thermography for breast cancer screening, diagnosis and risk prediction. A systematic literature search was conducted and qualitative and quantitative data were extracted and summarized. Seventeen studies (nonrandomized trials) met the inclusion criteria. Four studies reported thermography accuracy for screening (60,802 women): median sensitivity was 47% (range 25–70%) and the median false-positive rate was 31% (range 21–38%). Twelve studies reported thermography accuracy (9887 women) in the context of a known clinical or mammographic abnormality: median sensitivity was 59% (range 25–97%). Two studies found no association between abnormal thermography and an increased 5-year risk of developing breast cancer. The sensitivity of thermography in breast cancer detection is low and the evidence does not support thermography as an alternative to screening mammography or for the investigation of symptoms.