Why do large breast cancers still present in a population offered screening?

Abstract

Rates of large breast cancers should decrease in a population that is offered mammography screening, but women continue to present with them. We sought an explanation in a population-based epidemiological study of 1,459 women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2002-2003 in Australia; breast cancers were ≥2 cm in 766 women (53%) and 11-1.9 cm in a comparison group (693, 47%). We interviewed the women about their personal, mammogram and breast histories in the years before diagnosis and collected biological characteristics of tumors and mammogram dates from medical records. The strongest correlate of breast cancer size at diagnosis was the method of detection: the odds of a ≥2 cm breast ..