Clinical breast exams ‘low value’ for women with genetic risk
A retrospective study of Australian patients under intense surveillance because of germline mutations shows the exams don’t improve cancer detection
Clinical breast examination adds little to surveillance for women at high genetic risk of breast cancer, and it could be safely dropped from screening that includes MRI, Australian clinicians say.
The advice follows new evidence that suggests breast exams have a “very low” sensitivity and don’t increase cancer detection in women with BRCA1/2 mutations.
Researchers from Melbourne’s Peter McCallum Cancer Centre, led by medical oncologist Professor Kelly-Anne Phillips, have warned it is not a useful surveillance tool and has some downsides.
Although clinical breast examination is routinely used, they say there is conflicting advice about its value in detecting cancer in these high-risk women.
