False Positive Mammograms and Cancer Risk

Screening mammograms are the best possible means by which breast cancer can be detected, and therefore lead the way for treatment as soon as the diagnosis confirms the presence of breast cancer. However, the process is not without its flaws and therefore, it is not always a very reliable method to detect the presence of the disease. When cancer hospitals conduct screening mammograms over a suspected area, but it turns out to be normal, then the test result is deemed to be falsely positive. However, as has been mentioned, mammograms are not very reliable and the false positive reports might not not be completely true.

In fact, research has shown that women who were handed down a report of being deemed false positive, have a slightly higher risk of developing breast cancer within the next ten years. This is because the mammographed area is not usually cross-checked and pit to tests or biopsy to conclusively rule out the presence of breast cancer. This acceptance at face value of mammography reports has had horrible consequences for women, who having not undergone more tests, had to contend with breast cancer and the inconveniences and risks it brings.

This study has shown that the risk for invasive breast cancer increases progressively, depending on the kind of recommendation the patient was given. In a time period of a decade, 39% of women who were recommended for more imaging after the initial mammography had a higher risk of cancer; this shoots up to a statistic of 76% of women who had been recommended for a biopsy. This increase in risk is merely a relative increase in risk, and it is important to bear this in mind while looking at the statistics. When risk is measured in absolute terms, it is found to be quite small. For example, women with a false positive result have a 2% chance of developing the disease in the next 10 years, the statistic for women deemed negative on the mammography report was found to be just 1%.

The researchers behind the study, which has been published in the journal Cancer Encyclopedia, Bio markers and Prevention, offer any explanation as to why false-positive mammography reports are linked to a slightly higher risk in the appearance of breast cancer. Many experts do however agree that minor changes suggested by the mammography report might be an early indication towards a sign of cancer, even before an actual cancer manifests itself.

Quite interestingly, this has not been the only study that has shown this link. But what sets apart this particular study from the others is the large number of women who participated and the length of the time it took to add up more follow-up evidence that conclusively establishes the link between false-positive reports and the slightly-higher risk of developing breast cancer that it entails.

A look at the statistics of the occurrence of breast cancers per 1000 persons per year reveals the following: there were 3.91 cases of invasive breast cancers per 1000 persons per year of women with negative mammography results; this number goes up to 5.51 per 1000 persons per year of women with a result of false-positive and recommended for more imaging. This number goes above to 7.01 per 1000 persons per year for women with a false positive result and who had been recommended for undergoing biopsy.

If you are in Delhi and if you think you are prone to develop breast cancer, your search for a cancer hospital would not be too difficult, as BLK Cancer Hospital contains all the provisions and infrastructure necessary to contain and treat not only breast cancer, but also other kinds of cancer.