First Results of a Mammographic Screening Program in Two Municipalities of Massa-Carrara Province (Italy)

Abstract

Aims and Background

A mammographic screening for breast cancer was started in 1989 in two municipalities of Massa-Carrara province. This paper describes the results of the first two years and evaluates the quality of the program via early indicators.

Methods

We calculated the attendance rate at first screening, the proportion of women recalled for further examinations (recall rate), the ratio between benign lesions and carcinomas detected by screening, the staging of the screen detected cancers and the ratio between detection rate and expected incidence (P/l ratio).

Results

Out of 14826 invited women 10407 (70.2 %) attended the first screening; 266 (2.6%) of them were referred for further investigations but only 63 (0.6%) required surgical biopsy. A histological confirmed malignancy was found in 39 women corresponding to a detection rate of 3.7/1000. According to pTNM classification 89.1 % of all cancers were either Tis or in stage T1; and in two third of the cases there was no nodes involvment.

Conclusion

The results achieved so far, evaluated via early indicators, show a good start of the program.