Prior mammographic screening: what is its effect on the clinical stage in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients at Akuhn.

Introduction: Breast cancer is now the leading cancer amongst women in Kenya according to GLOBOCAN 2018. It is also a leading cause of cancer deaths in Kenya, after esophageal and cervical cancer. Mammography is the gold standard in the screening of breast cancer. For screening to be effective, however, it has to be offered to the right patients at the appropriate time and intervals. Up until February of 2019, there were no local guidelines to guide the screening of breast cancer in Kenya. The objective of this study is to assess if prior mammographic screening had an effect on the stage of disease in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study where data was collected and analyzed retrospectively, between January 2016 to December 2018. Data was obtained from the medical records and the department of Radiology, AKUHN. A main analysis was done on this group and a sub-analysis was done after a 1:1 matching by age, and where data allowed, by histopathological subtype, tumor grade, and family history. Results: Amongst the study subjects, 67 patients (25.5%) had a history of previous screening, and 196(74.5%) had no prior screening. Screening was not regular, with intervals between screening ranging from 1 to 9 years. Peak incidence of breast cancer was in the 40-49 year agegroup.20.15% had advanced disease at diagnosis while 79.85% had early disease. Conclusion: This study found that there is a higher odds of being diagnosed with early disease amongst those who screen, suggesting that screening mammography could be protective against advanced disease