Chest X-Ray Survey in Breast Cancer Follow-Up – A Contrary View

Mammography surveillance and mortality in older breast cancer survivors

PURPOSE

There are more than 2,000,000 breast cancer survivors in the United States today. While surveillance for asymptomatic recurrence and second primary is included in consensus recommendations, the effectiveness of this surveillance has not been well characterized. Our purpose is to estimate the effectiveness of surveillance mammography in a cohort of breast cancer survivors with complete ascertainment of surveillance mammograms and negligible losses to follow-up.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We enrolled 1,846 stage I and II breast cancer patients who were at least 65 years old at six integrated health care delivery systems. We used medical record review and existing databases to ascertain patient, tumor, and therapy characteristics, as well as receipt of surveillance mammograms. We linked personal identifiers to the National Death Index to ascertain date and cause of death. We matched four controls to each breast cancer decedent to estimate the association between receipt of surveillance mammogram and breast cancer mortality.

RESULTS

One hundred seventy-eight women died of breast cancer during 5 years of follow-up. Each additional surveillance mammogram was associated with a 0.69-fold decrease in the odds of breast cancer mortality (95% CI, 0.52 to 0.92). The protective association was strongest among women with stage I disease, those who received mastectomy, and those in the oldest age group.

CONCLUSION

Given existing recommendations for post-therapy surveillance, trials to compare surveillance with no surveillance are unlikely. This large observational study provides support for the recommendations, suggesting that receipt of surveillance mammograms reduces the rate of breast cancer mortality in older patients diagnosed with early-stage disease.

Reduced mortality rate associated with annual mammograms after breast cancer therapy

Guidelines have been developed for appropriate posttherapy surveillance for breast cancer recurrence. One purpose of posttherapy surveillance is to detect potentially curable local recurrences and new cancers in the opposite breast. The objective of this investigation was to assess the impact of annual mammography on all-cause mortality in breast cancer survivors. We conducted a case-control analysis nested in a cohort of 865 stage I or II breast cancer patients diagnosed from 1996 to 1999. The exposure variable was the number of mammograms received after completing primary therapy. Cases were decedents and we used risk-set sampling to match eight controls to each case on follow-up time. The mortality rate declined with an increasing number of mammograms (p for trend=0.007). The age- and therapy-adjusted odds ratio associating receipt of an additional mammogram, compared with receipt of no mammogram, equaled 0.77 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.53-1.1). These results are consistent with a protective effect of regular surveillance mammography after completing therapy for early stage breast cancer.

Reduced rates of cancer-related worries and mortality associated with guideline surveillance after breast cancer therapy

OBJECTIVE

Guidelines have been developed for appropriate post-therapy surveillance for breast cancer recurrence. Two objectives of post-therapy surveillance are to support and counsel patients and to detect potentially curable local recurrences and new cancers in the opposite breast. The objective of this investigation was to assess the impact of guideline surveillance (history, physical examination, and annual mammography) on cancer-related worries and all-cause mortality.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING

We collected data on a cohort of 303 Massachusetts women with stages I or II breast cancer diagnosed between 1992 and 1994. Cases were women with increasing cancer-related worries or decedents. We used risk-set sampling to match five controls to each case on follow-up time. Cases and members of their matched risk set were characterized with respect to receipt of guideline surveillance and covariates preceding the date of their outcomes.

RESULTS

The adjusted odds ratio associating guideline surveillance in the preceding year with an increase in cancer-related worries equaled 0.37 (95% CI = 0.14-0.99). The adjusted odds ratio associating continuous guideline surveillance with all-cause mortality equaled 0.66 (95% CI = 0.51-0.86).

CONCLUSION

The results are consistent with the stated objectives of surveillance follow-up of breast cancer patients after the completion of their primary therapy.

Recommendations on follow-up of breast cancer patients following primary therapy

Follow-up of breast cancer patients who have completed their primary therapy has not been standardized. The literature is reviewed and it is proposed that "minimal" follow-up with history and physical examination is the most appropriate procedure. Data show that more expensive imaging studies be carried out only in patients who are symptomatic from their disease, otherwise such an intensive follow-up schedule is not cost effective.

Value of bone scanning in the follow-up of breast cancer patients. A study of 1000 cases

The aim of the study was to assess the value of routine bone scintigrams, independent of the primary tumor stage or the presence of symptoms, in the postsurgical follow-up of breast cancer patients for the early detection of bone metastases. For this purpose 1,000 patients with postsurgical breast cancer without previous documentation of metastatic disease, who were admitted to the special oncology hospital, Onkologische Klinik Bad Trissl, entered a prospective study in 1987-1988. The parameters followed were the TNM stage of the primary tumor, the presence of pain, bone pain as revealed by a thorough physical examination, and the patient's history for the assessment of risk factors. In addition, a whole-body skeletal scintigram, supplementary X-rays, and additional diagnostic measures were performed, if necessary, to detect bone metastases. It was shown that in 856 of 894 patients (groups 1-6) without clinical symptoms, the clinical examination and radiological and scintigraphic diagnostic measurements, demonstrating the absence of bone metastases, gave matching results, but in 12 of the 894 patients the results of all examinations remained questionable. In another 12 of the 894 patients (groups 1-3) radiological and/or scintigraphical evidence for the presence of bone metastases was found. In 14 of 79 cases (groups 7-10) with clinically suspicious symptoms these were proven to be signs of metastases by subsequent scintigrams, supplementary X-rays, and additional diagnostic measures. In 65 of the 79 patients with clinically suspicious symptoms, bone metastases could not be confirmed by obtaining bone scintigrams or X-rays while in the other 14 patients (groups 9 and 10) evidence for the presence of bone metastases was found in the scintigrams and/or X-rays. However, 10 of these 14 patients were high-risk patients for developing bone metastases as they had axillary lymph node infiltration. The other 4 patients were of the low-risk group as they had positive receptor status or no axillary lymph node infiltration at the time of primary diagnosis. In 13 of 27 patients (groups 11-14) with clinical symptoms indicating the presence of bone metastases this diagnosis was confirmed by scintigrams and/or X-rays (groups 11 and 12), while it was possible to exclude the presence of bone metastases in spite of the symptoms in 11 of the 27 patients. In the other 3 patients the results of the additional examinations remained questionable.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)