HANOVER, N.H., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. women whose breast cancer is found by physical exams are at least twice as likely to get toxic treatments as those whose cancer is found by mammography.
A team from the Division of Surgical Oncology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire said the finding, which is summarized in the January issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology, holds true regardless of age.
The study reviewed 992 women with invasive breast cancer -- 460 of them had their cancer detected on screening mammography and 532 on physical examination.
Overall, patients whose cancer was detected at physical examination were three times more likely to be treated with chemotherapy than those who had their cancer detected by mammography. Women in the 40-49 age group were about two times more likely and women in the 70 and older age group were about five times more likely to undergo chemotherapy if their cancer was detected by physical examination.
Chemotherapy is commonly recommended for patients with larger tumors or with cancer that has spread into the lymph nodes. Cancers detected by mammography were half as large as those detected by physical exam.
