This article aims to present the results of a national, cross-sectional, voluntary, online survey on the presence and roles of associations of breast cancer patients and volunteers in Italian specialist breast centres. The survey was developed according to standard methods. The questionnaire was pre-tested by a random sample of three breast centres, loaded onto the SurveyMonkey platform, and piloted by one volunteer breast centre.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Performance indicators for organised breast cancer screening programmes in Italy, 2011-2019, were evaluated.
Materials And Methods: Aggregated data were gathered by the National Centre for Screening Monitoring from over 150 regional or sub-regional screening programmes in Italy. Invitation and examination coverage, participation rate (PR), recall rate (RR), detection rate, positive predictive value (PPV) for the target population as a whole (women aged 50-69), by 5-year age-class, geographical macro-area (North, Centre, South-Islands with the exception of three Regions for missing/uncomplete data) and Region were estimated.
Background: Despite recommendations, mammography screening is often insufficiently integrated into specialist breast centres. A national, cross-sectional, voluntary, online survey on this issue was carried out among the Italian breast centres associated with Senonetwork, the Italian network of breast cancer services.
Methods: A 73-item questionnaire was created, pre-tested and piloted.
Radiol Med
May 2022
Introduction: In 2016, the Italian Group for Mammography Screening and the Italian College of Breast Radiologists by the Italian Society of Medical and Interventional Radiology recommended that screening programmes and specialist breast centres actively invite women with a history of breast cancer to follow-up imaging.
Objective: A survey of breast centres associated with Senonetwork, the Italian network of breast cancer services, has offered the opportunity to assess the implementation of this recommendation.
Methods: A national, cross-sectional, voluntary, online survey was developed, pre-tested, and administered during the months July-October 2020.
Background: Radiology is an essential tool in the management of a patient. The aim of this manuscript was to build structured report (SR) Mammography based in Breast Cancer.
Methods: A working team of 16 experts (group A) was composed to create a SR for Mammography Breast Cancer.
Breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer affecting female patients. The introduction of breast cancer screening programs led to a substantial reduction of mortality from breast cancer. Nevertheless, doubts are being raised on the real efficacy of breast screening programs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the likelihood of returning for routine breast cancer screening among women who have experienced a false-positive result (FPR) and to describe the possible individual and organizational factors that could influence subsequent attendance to the screening program. Several information were collected on demographic and clinical characteristics data. Electronic data from 2014 to 2016 related to breast screening program of the Local Health Authority (LHA) of Bologna (Italy) of women between 45 and 74 years old were reviewed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Up to 10% of individuals with breast cancer (BC) belong to families with hereditary syndromes. The aim of this study was to develop an instrument to identify individuals/families at high-hereditary risk for BC and offer dedicated surveillance programs according to different risks.
Methods: The instrument consisted of a primary questionnaire collecting history of BC and ovarian cancer (OC).
Epitheliosis (or usual duct hyperplasia) is a proliferation of epithelial and myoepithelial cells located within enlarged acini and small ducts, which is characterized by irregular and peripheral fenestration. Infiltrating epitheliosis (IE) is a specific lesion, characterized by classical epitheliosis flowing out into the adjacent stroma. The stroma is desmoplastic and shows keloid appearance with irregular elastosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: In Italy, due to increasing healthcare budget and staff shortages, the recently created regional mammography screening programmes were established under worse radiology practice quality criteria than the previously created programmes.
Methods: Using available data from a national questionnaire survey conducted at the end of 2013 and involving 222 responder radiologists, we compared the main professional quality standards of radiologists working in the screening programmes established during the period 2000-2012 with those working in the screening programmes created from 1990 to 1999.
Results: The former reported more years of clinical experience in breast imaging and a greater clinical mammogram reading volume than the latter.
This position paper, issued by ICBR/SIRM and GISMa, summarizes the evidence on DBT and provides recommendations for its use. In the screening setting, DBT in adjunct to digital mammography (DM) increased detection rate by 0.5-2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: EUSOBI and 30 national breast radiology bodies support mammography for population-based screening, demonstrated to reduce breast cancer (BC) mortality and treatment impact. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the reduction in mortality is 40 % for women aged 50-69 years taking up the invitation while the probability of false-positive needle biopsy is <1 % per round and overdiagnosis is only 1-10 % for a 20-year screening. Mortality reduction was also observed for the age groups 40-49 years and 70-74 years, although with "limited evidence".
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWomen who were previously treated for breast cancer (BC) are an important particular subgroup of women at intermediate BC risk. Their breast follow-up should be planned taking in consideration a 1.0-1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPalisaded mammary-type myofibroblastoma is a rare variant of benign stromal spindle cell tumor whose histological features are well known. Nevertheless, no cytological features have been reported to date. In this article, we describe the cytological features of a case of palisaded mammary-type myofibroblastoma in which a preoperative fine needle aspirate was obtained.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Screening mammogram reading volume (SMRV) and total (screening and clinical) mammogram reading volume (TMRV) per year are strongly associated with the radiologist's diagnostic performance in breast cancer screening. The current article reports the prevalence and correlates of a SMRV and a TMRV ≥5000 among Italian breast screening radiologists.
Materials And Methods: A questionnaire survey was carried out in 2013-2014 by the Italian Group for Mammography Screening (GISMa).
Objectives: To estimate the impact on recall rate (RR) of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) associated with digital mammography (DM+DBT), compared to DM alone, evaluate the impact of double reading (DR) and review the literature.
Methods: Ethics committees approved this multicenter study. Patients gave informed consent.
In this position paper, a self-convened team of experts from the Italian Group for Mammography Screening (Gruppo italiano screening mammografico, GISMa) pointed out the problems that increasingly hamper the feasibility and validity of the estimate of the proportional incidence of interval breast cancer (IBC) in Italy, suggested potential solutions and an agenda for research, and proposed that the question of the sensitivity of mammography be viewed in a larger perspective, with a greater attention to radiological review activities and breast radiology quality assurance programmes. The main problems are as follows: the coverage of cancer registration is incomplete; the robustness of using the pre-screening incidence rates as underlying rates decreases with time since the start of screening; the intermediate mammograms performed for early detection purposes may cause an overrepresentation of IBCs; the classification of many borderline screening histories is prone to subjectivity; and, finally, the composition of cohorts of women with negative screening results is uncertain, because several mammography reports are neither clearly negative nor clearly positive, and because of the limitations and instability of the electronic mammography records. Several possibilities can be considered to cope with these issues: standard methods for using the hospital discharge records in the identification of IBCs should be established; for the calculation of regional estimates of the underlying incidence, a suitable mathematical model should be identified; the definition of IBC according to the 2008 GISMa guidelines needs to be updated, especially with respect to in situ cancers and to invasive cancers with borderline screening histories; a closer adherence to standard screening protocols, with a simplified patient management, would make it easier to objectively identify IBCs; alternative methods for estimating the sensitivity of mammography should be taken into consideration; and, finally, analysis could be restricted to the absolute incidence rate of IBC, which would make comparison of the risk between neighbouring populations possible.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To compare breast density (BD) assessment provided by an automated BD evaluator (ABDE) with that provided by a panel of experienced breast radiologists, on a multivendor dataset.
Methods: Twenty-one radiologists assessed 613 screening/diagnostic digital mammograms from nine centers and six different vendors, using the BI-RADS a, b, c, and d density classification. The same mammograms were also evaluated by an ABDE providing the ratio between fibroglandular and total breast area on a continuous scale and, automatically, the BI-RADS score.
GISMa analyses the interval cancer (IS) topic providing guidelines and reference standards in addition to CE recommendations. IC identification is based on Cancer Registries (CR), if existing, or on hospital discharge records, in alternative. The optimal measure of IC frequency (inversely correlated with sensitivity) is the IC proportional incidence (observed IC/carcinomas expected in absence of screening).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSurveillance of interval cancers (IC) lacks standardisation of review methodologies. We investigated the extent to which 'informed' or 'blinded' review may affect IC classification. This is a retrospective study of 100 validated screening mammograms (20 IC, 80 negative screens) independently reviewed by six radiologists.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF