Introduction: Definition of the Clinical Question
After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer to be detected in females. When a person has breast cancer, the breast cells proliferate unnaturally. Breast cancer is classified according to the type of cell that evolves into a malignant one; this is how medical professionals identify the disease. Breast cancer strikes women most frequently after the age of 50. Mammography is the gold standard when it comes to diagnosing breast cancer. Mammography is a technique that uses low-intensity x-rays to screen for and diagnose anomalies in the breasts of females. Some medical professionals believe mammograms should be conducted on females once every year, but others believe that mammograms should be performed once every three years. This topic has been the subject of an extensive amount of discussion.
Breast cancer is more likely to occur in women over fifty, particularly those who have recently finished the menopause stage of their lives. Mammography is a diagnostic procedure that should be performed on all women over 50 to detect breast cancer at an early stage, which will help prevent more severe issues in the future and lower the death rate (Kataoka, 2022). Breast cancer strikes approximately 80 percent of women who reach the age of fifty. Mammography can either be conducted once per year or once every three years. Both of these options are available. The frequency of mammography diagnostic tests is something that the patient or the doctors decide based on available options, prospective benefits and drawbacks, and their clinical judgment.
Mammography not only aids in the early diagnosis of breast masses or microcalcifications, but it also helps to reduce the overall mortality rate among women (Narayan et al., 2018). X-rays of low intensity are utilized in mammography diagnostic testing to examine and evaluate female breast tissue. Mammography diagnostic testing carries with it several risks, some of which include the following: occasionally, mammography is unable to detect breast microcalcifications; frequently, the tests are dubious and generate false results, which can cause anxiety in patients; occasionally, mammography leads to an overdiagnosis; occasionally, mammography can be uncomfortable for patients; occasionally, some patients may develop the possibility of radiation-induced breast cancer as a result of radiation exposure; and occasionally, mammography can be painful Mammography is recommended by medical professionals since the potential benefits of the procedure far outweigh any potential risks.
Studies of the Database Search
The level 1 of the Picot question was best researched using Cochrane Library (Wiley). For the study, evaluation, and application of evidence-based practices, the database compiles systematic reviews, the gold standard of evidence. In addition, Researchers at Michigan Medicine examined the breast imaging records of 232 women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and 2017. The women’s ages ranged from 40 to 84, and their disease was discovered in either 2016 or 2017 (Desreux, 2018). The participants were categorized according to the type of mammography they had received, and the researchers compared the characteristics of their tumors. According to the research findings, almost every woman receives a mammogram annually or every other year. According to the study’s findings, the researchers noticed that a higher percentage of women who had received annual mammography had been diagnosed with stage one cancer compared to the women who had undergone mammography after three years.
Statistical Results
Level 2 evidence suggests that breast cancers found in women who had mammograms once every year were less progressed and smaller than those found in women who had once every three years. According to the study, women who went in for mammograms annually had a higher chance of receiving stage I cancer than women who went for mammography once every three years (Smith et al., 2018). A breast cancer diagnosis at stage II, III, or IV was made in 24 percent of women who underwent annual mammography. 44% of women who underwent mammography every three years were diagnosed with stage II, III, or IV breast cancer. These women had all received regular mammograms. Women who got mammograms every three years were also diagnosed with bigger malignancies than those who did not. For women who had mammograms once every year, the average size of the tumor was 1.4 centimeters, while for women who had mammograms once every three years, the average size of the tumor was 1.8 cm (Welch Medical Library, 2021).
Interval cancers, found between screenings, were more common among women who received mammography every three years. When women were screened for breast cancer annually, 11% were diagnosed (Ho et al., 2020). Thirty-eight percent of women who got mammograms every three years were diagnosed with interval cancer (Ho et al., 2020). If you get a mammography every three years, you’re more likely to get chemotherapy and axillary lymph node surgery for breast cancer. Only 12% of women who received annual mammograms needed surgery on their axillary lymph nodes, but 19% of women who had mammography every three years did (Ho et al., 2020). Only 28% of women who underwent annual mammograms had chemotherapy, compared to 38% of women who had mammography every three years.
Conclusion
The evidence presented above underscores the relevance of annual breast screening and mammography. Therefore, it is recommended that women undergo a mammogram or other form of breast screening every year to detect breast cancer early and avoid more severe treatments. It is suggested that women undergo a mammogram yearly, as three-year screening increases the risk of developing interval cancer. To lower mortality rates, doctors should perform mammograms annually.
References
Desreux, J. A. (2018). Breast cancer screening in young women. European journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology, 230, 208-211. Web.
Ho, T. Q. H., Bissell, M. C., Kerlikowske, K., Hubbard, R. A., Sprague, B. L., Lee, C. I., & Miglioretti, D. L. (2022). Cumulative probability of false-positive results after 10 years of screening with digital breast tomosynthesis vs digital mammography. JAMA network open, 5(3), e222440-e222440. Web.
Kataoka, M. (2022). Mammographic density for personalized breast cancer risk. Radiology, 222129. Web.
Narayan, A. K., Elkin, E. B., Lehman, C. D., & Morris, E. A. (2018). Quantifying performance thresholds for recommending screening mammography: A revealed preference analysis of USPSTF guidelines. Breast cancer research and treatment, 172(2), 463-468. Web.
Smith, R. A., Andrews, K. S., Brooks, D., Fedewa, S. A., Manassaram‐Baptiste, D., Saslow, D., & Wender, R. C. (2018). Cancer screening in the United States, 2018: A review of current American Cancer Society guidelines and current issues in cancer screening. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 68(4), 297-316. Web.
Welch Medical Library. (2021). Databases for nursing research. Nursing resources. The John Hopkins University of Medicine. Web.