Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026
Clinical Imaging of Microwave Mammography
Published on: November 14, 2025
Evaluation and outcomes of women with a breast lump and a normal mammogram result
Jennifer S Haas1, Celia P Kaplan, Phyllis Brawarsky
1Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02120-1613, USA. jhaas@partners.org
Background:
Many women experience a breast lump. Clinical guidelines suggest that a normal mammogram result alone is not adequate to exclude a diagnosis of cancer.
Objective:
To examine the characteristics of women with a breast lump and a normal mammogram that were associated with receiving further evaluation, and to examine cancer outcomes.
Design:
Observational cohort.
Participants:
Women aged 35 to 70 years who participated in a population-based mammography registry and who did not have a history of breast cancer noted at the time of their mammogram that they had a breast lump, and had a "normal" (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System 1 or 2) mammogram result (n=771).
Measurements:
Telephone survey performed 6 months after the mammogram to ascertain information about evaluation. Cancer outcomes within 12 months of the index mammogram were confirmed through linkage with a cancer registry.
Results:
Only 56.9% of women reported receiving an adequate evaluation for their breast lump, including a subsequent clinical breast exam, a visit to a breast specialist, an ultrasound, a biopsy, or aspiration. Latinas were less likely than white women to have received adequate evaluation, as were obese women compared with normal-weight women, and uninsured women compared with women with insurance. Among women with at least 12 months of follow-up, 1.4% were diagnosed with cancer.
Conclusions:
Many women do not receive adequate evaluation for a recent breast lump. Interventions should be designed to improve the follow-up of women with this common clinical problem.
