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

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Breast Imaging
• Oncology

Background:

• False-positive results in breast cancer screening can lead to patient anxiety and impact follow-up care.
• Stereotactic vacuum-assisted biopsy (SVAB) is a common procedure for evaluating suspicious mammographic findings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if false-positive stereotactic vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (SVAB) results affect women's adherence to subsequent mammographic screening.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of women who underwent SVAB between 2012-2014.
• Comparison of screening adherence between women with benign SVAB results and a control group without biopsy.
• Statistical analysis using Fisher's exact, Mann-Whitney, and chi-squared tests.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in adherence for annual follow-up within 9-18 months between SVAB benign pathology group (48.4%) and control group (50.2%).
• Significantly higher adherence for follow-up >18 months in the SVAB benign pathology group (14.4%) compared to the control group (7.4%).
• Older age, personal history of breast cancer, and postbiopsy complications were associated with higher screening adherence.

Conclusions:

• Benign results from SVAB do not appear to negatively impact mammographic screening adherence.
• The potential harms associated with false-positive mammography and biopsies may be overestimated.