Breast cancer screenings may decrease among women who receive false positives, study finds

High rates of false-positive results may be preventing women from complying with recommended mammography screenings for breast cancer, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center in Sacramento, California, examined more than 3.5 million screening mammograms performed on more than 1 million women between 2005 and 2017.

Women who received a true negative result were more likely to return for subsequent screenings, with a compliance rate of 77%.

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By comparison, among those who received a false positive, only 61% returned for another mammogram within six months, and 67% returned for a recommended biopsy. (A false positive occurs when a mammogram shows an abnormal result that is investigated further but does not lead to a cancer diagnosis.)

The women, aged 40 to 73, had never been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The study results were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on September 3.

Surprising results

“We found that women were less likely to return for another screening mammogram if they were recalled for additional imaging that did not result in a cancer diagnosis, particularly if that recall resulted in a recommendation for short-term follow-up or biopsy or if they had false-positive scans on two consecutive screening mammograms,” study lead author Dr. Diana Miglioretti, professor and division chief of biostatistics in the Department of Public Health Sciences at UC Davis School of Medicine, told Fox News Digital.

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Miglioretti said she was surprised by the results because surveys have suggested that women think they would be just as likely to continue screening even after a false-positive result.

“However, something about this experience seems to influence their actual behavior, and despite their intention to return, some do not,” she added.

Another surprising element, Miglioretti said, was that a false-positive recommendation for short-interval follow-up — meaning the patient should return in six months for diagnostic imaging to assess changes in the abnormal finding — had the greatest impact on the likelihood that a woman would not return for future exams.

“I initially thought the likelihood of recurrence would be lowest in those who had a benign biopsy,” she said.

“About 10% of screening mammograms require a diagnostic exam, and most women recalled for further imaging do not have breast cancer.”

“However, even after following women for five years after a false positive result, women…