Abstract
To assess the current status of our clinic specializing in breast diseases, we summarized and analyzed the data for 5,046 outpatients who attended during an 18-month period from 2007 to 2009. Their mean age was 44.5 years (range 7 to 95 years), and they visited our clinic from all regions of Hokkaido, although a large proportion were resident near the clinic. About 60% of them had been referred to us by other patients, and/or their relatives or friends, and about 16% had been referred from other medical institutions. Because of the recent tendency to seek a second opinion, the proportion of outpatients referred by other breast surgeons has increased at our clinic. The recent breast cancer detection rate among our outpatients has decreased in comparison with 5 years ago, because of the increase in young outpatients. Furthermore, the proportion of early breast cancers has increased since the introduction of sophisticated diagnostic techniques for micro-carcinoma. The accuracy of screening tests for breast cancer should be improved further in the future. Thereafter, the function of clinics specializing in breast diseases will likely become more important.
