Mammograms After misdiagnosis, future investigations are often neglected

Erroneous results in mammography can have serious consequences
Many women regularly undergo a mammogram to protect themselves from breast cancer. However, it can happen that a mammogram results in suspicious findings, which are later not due to cancer. Researchers have now found that false findings in previous mammograms make women often neglect their future examinations or fail to go at all. This has a major impact on the likelihood of survival when breast cancer actually occurs.

Researchers at the Advocate Lutheran General Hospital at Park Ridge found in an investigation that faulty mammograms can lead to women often failing to appear or massively delay further investigations after the misdiagnosis. The scientists published their study in the journal "Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention".

Misdiagnoses in mammography can unsettle affected women and lead to unfounded fears. As a result, many of these women no longer go to later mammograms and the risk of becoming ill with breast cancer increases. (Image: Tyler Olson / fotolia.com)

Fears of faulty mammography lead to difficulties in further tests
If women were advised to produce a mammogram every year, the authors, with the fear of having a faulty mammogram, tended to delay their next test for up to another 13 months. For women with negative tests alone, the tests were delayed by about three to six months. In women without a prior misdiagnosis, the probability of an advanced tumor being diagnosed was 0.3 percent. In women with a misdiagnosis, the value was slightly but still significantly increased and was 0.4 percent. A mammogram is an examination that is supposed to detect tumors. However, it can have a negative effect on the psyche of the woman, if it comes to a misdiagnosis or an unfounded suspected cancer, say the doctors.

Misdiagnosis can lead to a biopsy
Mammograms can lead to false positive results. Affected women often suffer from unfounded fears. In addition, these misdiagnoses often other expensive and sometimes painful tests are performed, such as a biopsy. There has been talk for some time about whether these adverse effects outweigh the benefits of the screenings.

Further research is needed
If the results are confirmed by other studies, researchers urgently need to pay extra attention to the problem. This helps to ensure that women with false positives are reminded that they are participating in their regular examinations, the experts explain.

Seven to 17 percent of affected women receive an unnecessary biopsy
If a mammography device has found something suspicious, it is not threatening in the vast majority of cases. In a mammogram, about one out of ten tests is incorrectly positive. So to speak, women with an annual mammogram have a 50-50 chance of having a false positive result over the course of a decade, say the doctors. An estimated seven to 17 percent of these women will then undergo biopsy.

Physicians are studying 741,150 screening mammograms for their study
For their study, the researchers analyzed 741,150 screening mammograms previously performed by a large health organization. In 12.3 percent of the cases, suspicious results were ultimately a false alarm. During the three years following this initial mammography, 77.9 percent of women with a false positive result had a subsequent mammogram, compared to 85.0 percent of women who had no erroneous results in their study, the researchers explain.

After unnecessary biopsy, women no longer regularly come to mammography
It seemed to play a big role in whether women were biopsied. Women with incorrect diagnosis and subsequent biopsy rarely returned to further mammograms. Those affected were 19 percent more likely to return to regular mammography. Mammography screenings are currently the only tool that really works. There are some limitations, but such an investigation increases the survivability of women through early detection of cancer, say the authors. (As)