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. 2016 Apr 14:14:8.
doi: 10.1186/s13053-016-0048-3. eCollection 2016.

Intensive breast screening in BRCA2 mutation carriers is associated with reduced breast cancer specific and all cause mortality

D G Evans  1 , E F Harkness  2 , A Howell  3 , M Wilson  3 , E Hurley  3 , M M Holmen  4 , K U Tharmaratnam  5 , A I Hagen  6 , Y Lim  3 , A J Maxwell  3 , P Moller  7
Affiliations

Intensive breast screening in BRCA2 mutation carriers is associated with reduced breast cancer specific and all cause mortality

D G Evans et al. Hered Cancer Clin Pract. .

Abstract

Background: The addition of annual MRI screening to mammography has heightened optimism that intensive screening along with improved treatments may substantially improve life expectancy of women at high risk of breast cancer. However, survival data from BRCA2 mutation carriers undergoing intensive combined breast screening are scarce.

Methods: We have collated the results of screening with either annual mammography or mammography with MRI in female BRCA2 mutation carriers in Manchester and Oslo and use a Manchester control group of BRCA2 mutation carriers who had their first breast cancer diagnosed without intensive screening.

Results: Eighty-seven BRCA2 mutation carriers had undergone combined (n = 34) or mammography (n = 53) screening compared to 274 without such intensive screening. Ten year breast cancer specific survival was 100 % in the combined group (95 % CI 82.5-100 %) and 85.5 % (95 % CI 72.6-98.4 %) in the mammography group compared to 74.6 % (95 % CI 66.6-82.6 %) in the control group. Better survival was driven by lymph node status (negative in 67 % of screened vs 39 % of unscreened women; p < 0.001) and a significantly greater proportion of intensively screened women had invasive breast cancers <2 cm at diagnosis (74.6 % vs 50.4 %; p = 0.002).

Conclusion: Intensive combined breast cancer screening with annual MRI and mammography appears to improve survival from breast cancer in BRCA2 mutation carriers. Data from larger groups are required to confirm the effectiveness of combined screening in BRCA2 carriers.

Keywords: BRCA2; Breast cancer; Kaplan-meier; MRI; Mammography; Survival.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Breast cancer specific survival on Kaplan-Meier analysis for combined MRI and mammography versus no intensive screening
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Kaplan-Meier survival plot for breast cancer specific deaths for those BRCA2 mutation carriers undergoing any intensive screening versus no additional screening (p = 0.029)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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