H. Joensuu et al., DELAYED DIAGNOSIS AND LARGE-SIZE OF BREAST-CANCER AFTER A FALSE-NEGATIVE MAMMOGRAM, European journal of cancer, 30A(9), 1994, pp. 1299-1302
The aim of this prospective, multicentre study was to investigate the
effects of a false negative mammogram on treatment delay and tumour si
ze. Among 306 consecutive women with histologically diagnosed, invasiv
e breast cancer, the frequency of a false negative mammogram was small
(13%) among women aged over 50 years, but 35% among those aged 50 or
younger (P < 0.0001). Forty-five per cent of the women with a false ne
gative mammogram had a longer than 2-month and 29% a longer than 6-mon
th interval from mammography to surgery as compared with only 2 and 0%
of women, respectively, who had a true positive mammogram (P < 0.0001
for both). Women with a false negative mammogram and a longer than 2-
month interval to surgery had larger primary tumour size (60 versus 26
% pT2-4, P = 0.005) and more often positive axillary nodes (60% versus
32% pN +, P = 0.03) at the time of surgery than those with a shorter
delay. We conclude that a false negative mammogram is common in women
younger than 50, and may lead to treatment delay and advanced clinical
stage.