Affiliation:
1. Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Abstract
The aim of this review is to discuss the impact of breast screening on pathology. The advent of the national mammographic screening programme in Singapore has led to changes in the manner in which breast specimens are handled in the pathology laboratory, an increased detection of borderline lesions which pose diagnostic challenges, the occurrence of specific issues regarding core biopsies, and the need for awareness of histologic artefacts associated with preoperative needling procedures. There are also economic and workload implications, in addition to the essential requirement for quality assurance and educational programmes to maintain high professional standards. A multidisciplinary approach and commitment to continual professional upgrading are key to surmounting the pathologic challenges brought about by breast screening.
Key words: Borderline lesions, Quality assurance, Radiologic calcifications, Workload
Publisher
Academy of Medicine, Singapore
Reference34 articles.
1. Seow A, Koh WP, Chia KS, Shi LM, Lee HP, Shanmugaratnam K.Trends in cancer incidence in Singapore 1968 – 2002. Singapore Cancer Registry, 2004. Report No. 6.
2. Data from the Singapore Registry of Births and Deaths.
3. Smith RA, Duffy SW, Gabe R, Tabar L, Yen AMF, Chen TH. Therandomized trials of breast cancer screening: what have we learned? Radiol Clin N Am 2004;42:793-806.
4. Duffy SW, Tabar L, Chen HH. The impact of organized mammographyservice screening on breast carcinoma mortality in seven Swedish counties. Cancer 2002;95:458-69.
5. Ng EH, Ng FC, Tan PH, Low SC, Chiang G, Tan KP, et al. Results ofintermediate measures from a population-based, randomized trial of mammographic screening prevalence and detection of breast carcinoma among Asian women: the Singapore Breast Screening Project. Cancer 1998;82:1521-8.