False positive mammograms discouraging women from future screenings

Mammograms can detect cancers early and save lives, but a new study on false-positive mammograms worries Dr. Elizabeth Arguelles.

“I was very concerned and disheartened,” said Arguelles, the Director of the Breast Program at Physicians Regional Medical Center in Naples.

A UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center study looked at one million patients over 12 years.

It found that 77% of women with a negative result from a mammogram returned for a subsequent screening.

That number dropped to 61% after a false positive finding required another mammogram in six months.

“The more dense your breast is, the more likely you are to have a callback,” Arguelles said. “We need to take additional views to determine if there’s a problem.”

So, why can a false positive test result happen?

Every woman and every breast is different.

“It’s almost like, ‘Where’s Waldo?”’ said Arguelles. “If you see the picture there before, now you’re looking for, ‘Where did Waldo go?’ or ‘Did Waldo show up?’ and if he’s there, what does that mean?”

Shantel Jilani knows that feeling all too well.

She had a mammogram and was told by her doctor that she might need a second screening, but the warning didn’t ease her fears.

“He told me this was going to happen,” Jilani said. “I’m not going to freak out, but I am still kind of freaking out.”

Her test result was a false positive, but that hasn’t discouraged her from her yearly exams.

“I always encourage my friends and tell them my story,” Jilani said. “This is probably going to happen for you.”

Dana Stradley knows that because of her body, she could also have a false positive.

“I have moles and skin tags, especially in that area,” Stradley said. “Not all false positives mean that there’s cancer.”

The more often women go for their yearly mammograms, the less likely they’ll have that false positive result.

Radiologists compare prior mammograms, which helps them determine if there is a false positive.

The false positive rate has also significantly decreased with technology like computer-aided detection and 3D mammograms.