Perception of Breast Cancer Risk in Over 11,000 Patients During Routine Mammography Exam

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Public Health
• Medical Education

Background:

• Accurate understanding of personal breast cancer risk is crucial for informed health decisions.
• Physician-patient discussions about individualized risk assessment are believed to enhance risk perception.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate women's knowledge of their personal breast cancer risk.
• To determine the frequency of physician discussions on individualized breast cancer risk.
• To assess the impact of these discussions on patients' risk perception.

Main Methods:

• Surveys administered to women at radiology centers during routine mammography.
• Utilized the National Cancer Institute Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (Gail model) for risk calculation.
• Compared patient-reported perceived risk with calculated risk.

Main Results:

• Only 14% of women accurately estimated their 5-year breast cancer risk; 7% accurately estimated their 90-year risk.
• No association found between the timing of risk discussions and estimation accuracy (p=0.17).
• No significant difference in risk estimation accuracy between women who had or had not discussed risk with their physician (p=0.1064).

Conclusions:

• Patients' perceived breast cancer risk often diverges from Gail model calculations.
• Physician discussions about breast cancer risk did not demonstrably improve risk estimation accuracy in this cohort.
• Effective strategies are needed to improve patient understanding of personal breast cancer risk.