Stereotactic Breast Biopsy With Benign Results Does Not Negatively Affect Future Screening Adherence

To evaluate whether false-positive stereotactic vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (SVAB) affects subsequent mammographic screening adherence.

This Institutional Review Board-approved, HIPAA-compliant retrospective review of women with SVAB was performed between 2012 and 2014. Patient age, clinical history, biopsy pathology, and first postbiopsy screening mammogram were reviewed. Statistical analyses were performed using Fisher's exact, Mann-Whitney, and χ² tests.

There were 913 SVABs performed in 2012 to 2014 for imaging detected lesions; of these, malignant or high-risk lesions or biopsies resulting in a recommendation of surgical excision were excluded, leaving 395 SVABs yielding benign pathology in 395 women. Findings were matched with a control population consisting of 45,126 women who had a BI-RADS 1 or 2 screening mammogram and did not undergo breast biopsy. In all, 191 of 395 (48.4%) women with a biopsy with benign results and 22,668 of 45,126 (50.2%) women without biopsy returned for annual follow-up >9 months and ≤18 months after the index examination (P = .479). In addition, 57 of 395 (14.4%) women with a biopsy with benign results and 3,336 of 45,126 (7.4%) women without biopsy returned for annual follow-up >18 months after the index examination (P < .001). Older women, women with personal history of breast cancer, and women with postbiopsy complication after benign SVAB were more likely to return for screening (P = .026, P = .028, and P = .026, respectively).

The findings in our study suggest that SVABs with benign results do not negatively impact screening mammography adherence. The previously described "harms" of false-positive mammography and biopsy may be exaggerated.