INTERVAL CARCINOMAS OF THE BREAST - A GROUP WITH INTERMEDIATE OUTCOME

Background: Interval carcinoma is defined as a carcinoma detected betw een two mammographic screening rounds after a negative screening. By s ome authors these carcinomas are considered to be more aggressive than screen-detected carcinomas. Methods: In a group of 937 patients refer red for breast cancer in the period 1975-1990, 76 interval carcinoma p atients were treated. In a retrospective study the outcome was studied of patients with an interval carcinoma in comparison with patients wi th screen-detected carcinomas and of patients with clinically detected carcinomas outside the screening program. Results: No significant dif ference was found in the 5-year and 10-year disease-free survival of p atients with interval carcinoma (80%, 68%) and the screen-detected gro up (89%, 81%) (P = 0.12). The interval group did significantly better than the patients with carcinomas detected outside the screening progr am (P = 0.03). Conclusion: Interval-detected cancers for patients in t he screening program had an outcome intermediate between patients with screen-detected cancers and patients with cancers detected outside th e screening program. The difference between interval-detected cancers and cancers detected outside the screening program was significant, wh ereas the difference between screen-detected and interval cancers was not. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.