Abstract
We present the results of our approach for breast cancer screening using both mammography and echography. A total of 4,632 participants underwent screening with our own combined method using mammography and echography at our clinic during a two-year period in 2005 and 2006. Recall studies were carried out in 364 women (recall rate, 79%), and breast cancer was detected in 36 women (cancer detection rate, 0.78%). When the detected cancers were classified histopathologically, 22 were invasive ductal cancers and the remaining 14 were non-invasive cancers. Of the 22 women who proved to have invasive cancers, 14 had been unaware of their tumors, which were non-palpable.
If an invasive cancer is overlooked, the consequences may be more serious than if a non-invasive cancer is missed, because the former is can be potentially fatal. In order to decrease breast cancer mortality, invasive cancers must be detected when they are small. Since we were able to detect many small and non-palpable breast cancers that had not been noticed by the participants, our current breast cancer screening system appears to be more efficient for life-saving than other systems.
