EARLY-STAGE AND LATE-STAGE BREAST-CANCER IN A MANAGED CARE SETTING INRELATION TO MAMMOGRAPHY SCREENING

A case-control study was conducted to ascertain occurrence of advanced - and early-stage breast cancer, use of mammography, and the relations hip between the two. All women with stage III/IV breast cancer (N = 46 ) were matched to two controls (stage o/I and stage II) by year of dia gnosis and age. Matched-pair analyses assessed antecedent use of scree ning mammography. Results indicated that advanced-stage patients were significantly less likely than their stage 0/I counterparts to have ha d antecedent screening within 13 months of diagnosis [chi(2): 5.78; OR : 6.0; p < 0.05]. Cases compared with stage II controls did not differ statistically. Efforts should focus on increasing mammography in curr ently targeted age groups. Considerations might be toward extending re gular screening for women 40 to 49 and over 75.