Is Clinical Breast Examination, Added to Mammography, Worthwhile?

Whether patients benefit when clinical breast examination (CBE) is added to screening mammography is unclear. Canadian researchers addressed this issue in an analysis of data from the Ontario Breast Screening Program, a network of screening centers. Two thirds of centers offer CBE (performed by specially trained nurses) plus mammography; one third offer mammography only.

Nearly 300,000 women (age range, 50–69) were screened during 2 years. Mammography plus CBE resulted in slightly higher rates of cancer detection, but also higher false-positive rates, than mammography alone. The authors calculate that, for every 10,000 screened women, 59 cancers were diagnosed with mammography alone, and 63 were diagnosed with CBE plus mammography. Thus, CBE…