Budget impact analysis of a breast rapid diagnostic unit

BACKGROUND

The Odette Cancer Centre's recent implementation of a rapid diagnostic unit (rdu) for breast lesions has significantly decreased wait times to diagnosis. However, the economic impact of the unit remains unknown. This project defined the development and implementation costs and the operational costs of a breast rdu in a tertiary care facility.

METHODS

From an institutional perspective, a budget impact analysis identified the direct costs associated with the breast rdu. A base-case model was also used to calculate the cost per patient to achieve a diagnosis. Sensitivity analyses computed costs based on variations in key components. Costs are adjusted to 2015 valuations using health care-specific consumer price indices and are reported in Canadian dollars.

RESULTS

Initiation cost for the rdu was $366,243. The annual operational cost for support staff was $111,803. The average per-patient clinical cost for achieving a diagnosis was $770. Sensitivity analyses revealed that, if running at maximal institutional capacity, the total annual clinical cost for achieving a diagnosis could range between $136,080 and $702,675.

CONCLUSIONS

Establishment and maintenance of a breast rdu requires significant investment to achieve reductions in time to diagnosis. Expenditures ought to be interpreted in the context of institutional patient volumes and trade-offs in patient-centred outcomes, including lessened patient anxiety and possibly shorter times to definitive treatment. Our study can be used as a resource-planning tool for future rdus in health care systems wishing to improve diagnostic efficiency.

Abstract P3-02-06: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) surveillance for patients with dense breasts and a previous breast cancer (BC) and/or high risk lesion

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The benefits of breast MRI for screening women at high risk of developing BC is established, but its role in women with a personal history of BC or dense breasts is unknown. We sought to estimate the performance of annual surveillance MRI added to mammography in women at moderately increased BC risk due to a personal history of breast cancer and/or a high-risk breast lesion and dense breasts.

METHOD AND MATERIALS

We performed a retrospective chart review of the clinical, radiological, and pathological parameters of women who received annual, concurrent surveillance breast MRI and mammography between 04/2013 and 12/2015. We included women who met all of the following criteria: age<69; prior diagnosis of high-risk lesion (ADH, ALH, LCIS), DCIS, or invasive BC; heterogeneously (50-75%) or extremely dense (>75%) breasts; and did not qualify for our provincial MRI screening program for high risk women (calculated lifetime BC risk ≥ 25%). Results of each scan were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi squared for comparisons between subgroups.

RESULTS

A total of 199 patients (267 MRI exams) were included in this study. The mean age at initial diagnosis was 45 years and at subsequent diagnosis of DCIS or invasive cancer was 53 years. Mean time to new diagnosis was 86 months (range 14-202). All 15 cancers diagnosed during the study period were MRI detected: 11 invasive stage I (66% IDC, 7% ILC) and 4 DCIS (27%). Of these 15, all but 1 were mammographically occult. Five (33%) were found in the breast ipsilateral to the original lesion. The cancer detection rate was 6% (12/199) on the first screening round and 4.7% (3/64) on the second screening round. Specificity and positive predictive value respectively for MRI exams increased from 77% and 22% on the first screening round to 88% and 30% on the second round. Of women who developed BC, 57% had a history of breast or ovarian cancer in a first degree relative. None of the 72 women who were on hormonal therapy at the time of surveillance imaging had a new cancer detected compared to 11% (14/125) of those who were not on hormonal therapy (p=0.0025).

CONCLUSIONS

The incremental early-stage BC detection rate and specificity of MRI in this population are comparable to what is observed in screening women at high risk. The addition of annual MRI to mammography should be considered for surveillance of women with a personal history of BC / premalignant lesion and heterogeneous / extremely dense breasts, particularly if they have a family history of BC and are not on hormonal therapy.

Citation Format: Nadler M, Al Attar H, Curpen B, Martel AL, Balasingham S, Zhang L, Eisen A, Warner E. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) surveillance for patients with dense breasts and a previous breast cancer (BC) and/or high risk lesion [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-02-06.

Long-term results of screening with magnetic resonance imaging in women with BRCA mutations

Background:

The addition of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to screening mammography for women with BRCA mutations significantly increases sensitivity, but there is little data on clinical outcomes. We report screening performance, cancer stage, distant recurrence rate, and breast cancer-specific mortality in our screening study.

Methods:

From 1997 to 2009, 496 women aged 25 to 65 years with a known BRCA1/2 mutation, of whom 380 had no previous cancer history, were enrolled in a prospective screening trial that included annual MRI and mammography.

Results:

In 1847 screening rounds, 57 cancers were identified (53 screen-detected, 1 interval, and 3 incidental at prophylactic mastectomy), of which 37 (65%) were invasive. Sensitivity of MRI vs mammography was 86% vs 19% over the entire study period (P<0.0001), but was 74% vs 35% from 1997 to 2002 (P=0.02) and 94% vs 9% from 2003 to 2009 (P<0.0001), respectively. The relative sensitivities of MRI and mammography did not differ by mutation, age, or invasive vs non-invasive disease. Of the incident cancers, 97% were Stage 0 or 1. Of 28 previously unaffected women diagnosed with invasive cancer, 1 BRCA1 mutation carrier died following relapse of a 3 cm, node-positive breast cancer diagnosed on her first screen at age 48 (annual breast cancer mortality rate=0.5%). Three patients died of other causes. None of the 24 survivors has had a distant recurrence at a median follow-up of 8.4 years since diagnosis.

Conclusion:

Magnetic resonance imaging surveillance of women with BRCA1/2 mutations will detect the majority of breast cancers at a very early stage. The absence of distant recurrences of incident cancers to date is encouraging. However, longer follow-up is needed to confirm the safety of breast surveillance.

Level of suspicion of a mammographic lesion: use of features defined by BI-RADS lexicon and correlation with large-core breast biopsy

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether the categories defined in the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) are useful predictors of malignancy and to assess their positive predictive value.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A retrospective study was undertaken from July 1, 1994, to June 30, 1995. Of 568 abnormal mammograms for which largecore biopsy was recommended, 495 were available for review. The mammographic features of the lesions, as defined by the BI-RADS lexicon, were used to assess the level of suspicion. The lesions were classified as "probably benign," "suspicious" or "highly suggestive of malignancy." These diagnostic impressions were then correlated with the histologic diagnosis made after core biopsy.

RESULTS

The diagnostic impressions before core biopsy were as followed: 16 (3%) benign lesions, 397 (80%) suspicious lesions and 82 (17%) lesions highly suggestive of malignancy. All benign lesions remained in the same category after core biopsy, whereas, of the suspicious lesions, 91% were diagnosed as benign, only 4% as malignant, and the other 5% as atypical hyperplasia. Among the lesions highly suggestive of malignancy according to the BI-RADS lexicon, 54% were found to be malignant at core biopsy.

CONCLUSION

The BI-RADS lexicon is helpful in discriminating between lesions that are probably benign and probably malignant from the mammographic features. However, the rate of malignancy in the "suspicious" category is low.