[Breast carcinoma--revision of follow-up recommendations. 2: Special diagnostic value of bone scintigraphy, thoracic radiography, liver ultrasonic, mammography and laboratory tests]

Abstract

In the past, recommendations for the follow-up of women who had undergone primary treatment for a local or locoregional breast cancer, were mostly concerned with "programmed" protocols in which the frequency of the follow-up appointments and the examinations to be performed on the respective occasions (e.g. bone scintigraphy, chest X-ray, abdominal ultrasound, mammography and laboratory investigations/tumor markers) were rigidly fixed. The usefulness of these technical procedures is examined critically on the basis of the extensive publications in the literature. With the exception of regular mammography, which is a useful means of detecting malignancies at an early stage, none of the other technical investigations is recommended in women free of symptoms after breast surgery. The reason for this is that they contribute in no way to an improvement in survival or quality of life. By discarding the use of these ineffective diagnostic procedures, considerable savings could be made in the health care sector without any associated loss in the quality of the care afforded the women affected.