MEDICAL OUTCOME STUDIES
Proportion of Breast Cancer Cases Diagnosed at Stages 0 or I |
Stage at Diagnosis at Montclair Breast Center
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Re-excision Rates at Montclair Breast Center, by Year
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Established Montclair Breast Center patients with a diagnosis of breast cancer are much more likely to be diagnosed at Stage 0 or Stage 1 as compared to the national average
Breast cancer "staging" is based upon multiple factors including the size of the cancer in the breast, the presence of cancer in the lymph nodes under the arm, or the spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body. The stage helps to determine what type of treatment patients will receive as well as what their long-term outcomes will be. The earlier the stage at diagnosis, the more likely the breast cancer is curable and/or treatable.
For established Montclair Breast Center patients (those who had a mammogram and/or clinical breast exam at Montclair Breast Center within the preceding 18 months), 85% were diagnosed at Stage 0 or Stage I as compared to 62% for non-established patients, i.e., those who are sent to Montclair Breast Center with a diagnosis of breast cancer, a breast lump on clinical exam or abnormal imaging (mammogram, ultrasound or MRI), or who are lapsed MBC patients.
Additionally, established patients at Montclair Breast Center who are diagnosed with breast cancer have a much higher likelinood of being diagnosed at Stage 0 or Stage I as compared to the national average, which is approximately 60%.
What does this mean? Yearly screening mammograms with dedicated breast radiologists and yearly breast examinations by breast health specialists are the keys to early diagnosis.
Re-excision rate for established Montclair Breast Center patients are much lower than reported U.S. rates
At Montclair Breast Center, one of our primary goals is to make breast cancer care as efficient as possible. When doing breast conserving surgery it is important to obtain negative margins, which means no tumor cells at the edges of the tissue removed.
Reported re-excision rates in the United States vary from 20-40%. At Montclair Breast Center, from 2006-2008 our re-excision rate for established patients was 12%, for new patients 13%, and for all patients 12%. These rates are much lower than those reported in the literature.
What does this mean? It means fewer trips to the operating room and less delay in beginning additional treatments for patients who have surgery at Montclair Breast Center.