Better follow-up is required after a false positive response

Sometimes a false positive response on mammography screening should be followed up better than today. This is the opinion of researchers at the Karolinska Institutet who studied the risk of breast cancer in women who receive false positive answers. The study is published in Good oncology treatment.

– maybe you can be It would be a good idea to develop individual monitoring programs for these women, with close follow-up in the next few years after a false-positive response, says researcher Xinhe Mao in one study. press release.

False positive response in three percent

Sometimes the first mammogram produces results that cause the health care provider to call the woman back for new screenings. If no cancer is found, the first response is called a false positive response.

This almost happens Three percent of all women called by health care for a mammogram. These invitations are extended at regular intervals to all women between the ages of 40 and 74 years.

But there appears to be a reason why a false positive response is taken seriously by some women. This is because the current study shows that after this answer you have an increased risk of developing breast cancer.

Increased risk under 20 years

The study included approximately 45,000 women with a first false-positive result and approximately 450,000 women of the same age who were not recalled by health care.

Among those who They had false-positive mammograms, and their risk of developing breast cancer in the next 20 years was just over 11 percent. In the comparison group, the risk of breast cancer was just over 7 percent.

Older women are at greater risk

This means that those who received false positive answers had, on average, a 60% higher risk of later being diagnosed with breast cancer.

It was particularly clear Increased risk in the first four years after a false-positive response. Women over age 60 with low breast density had the greatest risk.