Screen-detected vs clinical breast cancer: Risk of lymph node metastases
Author Information
Author(s): L Bucchi, A Barchielli, A Ravaioli, M Federico, V De Lisi, S Ferretti, E Paci, M Vettorazzi, S Patriarca, A Frigerio, E Buiatti
Primary Institution: Romagna Cancer Registry, Luigi Pierantoni Hospital, Forlì, Italy
Hypothesis
The relative protection of screen-detected cases from the risk of lymph node involvement decreases with increasing tumour size.
Conclusion
The study found that the biological aggressiveness of breast cancer increases during the preclinical phase.
Supporting Evidence
- Screen-detected cancers had a lower average proportion of positive lymph nodes compared to clinically detected cases.
- The odds ratio for the risk of lymph node involvement decreased with increasing tumour size for screen-detected cases.
- Biological aggressiveness of breast cancer appears to increase during the preclinical phase.
Takeaway
This study looked at breast cancer cases and found that cancers detected by screening are usually less aggressive, but as they get bigger, they can become more dangerous.
Methodology
The study analyzed a registry-based series of breast cancer cases, comparing screen-detected and clinically diagnosed cases using logistic regression models.
Potential Biases
Potential overdiagnosis of nonaggressive cancers and misinterpretation of benign lesions as malignant.
Limitations
The study could not compare biological indicators due to incomplete data and had a limited number of cases for certain analyses.
Participant Demographics
Women aged 50–70 years from seven provinces in northern Italy.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.000
Confidence Interval
0.01–0.39
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Want to read the original?
Access the complete publication on the publisher's website