SABCS: Mammograms Not Needed in Symptomatic Men

Study finds that mammography adds little or nothing to findings of clinical evaluations

MONDAY, Dec. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Mammography should not be routinely performed on men with breast symptoms such as tenderness and swelling, according to research presented this week at the 29th annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Stephanie Hines, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic's Multidisciplinary Breast Clinic and Breast Cancer Program in Jacksonville, Fla., and colleagues reviewed the records of 198 men who underwent 212 mammograms from 2001-2004.

The researchers found that nine mammograms, or 4 percent, were suspicious, resulting in eight biopsies and two diagnosed cases of breast cancer. They also found that 203 mammograms (96 percent) were benign, including the 132 (62 percent) with confirmed gynecomastia. One patient with a benign mammogram was later biopsied and found to have breast cancer. All patients with breast cancer were found to have a dominant mass on physical exam, with associated findings such as skin or nipple retraction or adenopathy.

"The incidence of breast cancer among males undergoing mammography was low (1.5 percent)," the authors write. "These men had clinical findings that were suspicious for malignancy and would warrant clinical management regardless of the findings of mammography. Gynecomastia, the most common finding, could be predicted based on clinical presentation (i.e., pain or swelling in the setting of a predisposing condition) and was often confirmed with mammography. Mammography added little if any additional information to that obtained from a comprehensive clinical evaluation."

Abstract

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