AB005. SOH22ABS117. Prospective evaluation of the 2021 National Cancer Control Program (NCCP) mammogram only pathway
Clinical Breast Session

AB005. SOH22ABS117. Prospective evaluation of the 2021 National Cancer Control Program (NCCP) mammogram only pathway

Molly Featherstone1, Sorcha McNally2, Ruth Prichard3, James Geraghty4, Jane Rothwell4, Denis Evoy4, Damian McCartan4

1University College Dublin School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; 2Department of Radiology, St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland; 3Department of Breast Surgery, St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland; 4Department of Breast and General Surgery, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

Background: Referral numbers to symptomatic breast clinics in Ireland continue to increase. In April 2021, the National Cancer Control Program (NCCP) launched a new symptomatic breast referral guideline. This included a ‘Mammogram Only’ stream that enabled women over age 35 with mastalgia and a normal clinical assessment in primary care to proceed to mammography, obviating the need for a clinic visit. This study evaluates the outcomes of the first four months of implementation of the ‘Mammogram Only’ pathway.

Methods: All women, aged over 35, who were referred to St. Vincent’s University Hospital and triaged to the new ‘Mammogram Only’ pathway from 01/04/2021 to 31/07/2021 were identified for audit. Outcomes assessed were rate of cancer diagnosis, rate of recall for further imaging assessment and rate of biopsy. The comparative cohort were non-urgent referrals (>35 yrs) triaged to our ‘Image 1st Pathway’ (mammography followed by subsequent clinic visit).

Results: A total of 251 women (median age 52) were assigned to the ‘Mammogram Only’ pathway and attended for mammography. Eighteen patients (7%) were recalled for further evaluation with 8 (3%) undergoing a biopsy. Four patients (1.6%) patients were diagnosed with breast cancer. Of the 575 patients during the same time frame who were evaluated through the ‘Image 1st Pathway’ the corresponding figures were: recall rate 12%, biopsy 6%, cancer 2.6%.

Conclusions: This initial experience of the ‘Mammogram Only’ pathway confirms the ability of primary care to stratify patients with normal clinical assessment and mastalgia only for mammography with low rates of recall and biopsy and a cancer detection rate of <2%.

Keywords: Breast; biopsy; mammogram; mastalgia; primary care

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/map-22-ab005
Cite this abstract as: Featherstone M, McNally S, Prichard R, Geraghty J, Rothwell J, Evoy D, McCartan D. AB005. SOH22ABS117. Prospective evaluation of the 2021 National Cancer Control Program (NCCP) mammogram only pathway. Mesentery Peritoneum 2022;6:AB005.

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