[Importance of early diagnosis in the improvement of prognosis in breast carcinoma: non-palpable lesions. Preliminary results]. / Importanza della diagnosi precoce per il miglioramento della prognosi del carcinoma mammario: le "lesioni non palpabili". Risultati preliminari.

ABSTRACT

There are still marked differences in the current indications for breast screening proposed by the various international school of oncology. Epidemiological data to the effect that breast screening in asymptomatic women aged over 50 reduces the death rate due to breast cancer now appears to be widely accepted, but an analogous finding for women aged between 40-49 has not yet been confirmed. Following a brief analysis of the most important breast screening programmes carried out to date, the Authors report the preliminary results regarding the identification and biopsy of non-palpable breast lesions during the course of a screening programme in 1986 by the Dept. of Cancer Surgery. Of a total of 1128 breast scans in asymptomatic patients aged between 40 and 73, 24 suspect (1.9%) non-palpable lesions were found of which 5 (20.8%) proved to be carcinomas.