The risk for developing breast cancer after a false-positive mammography result varies with age, breast density, and follow-up, according to a study published in JAMA Oncology. Xinhe Mao and colleagues examined long-term outcomes after a false-positive mammography result in a matched cohort study that included 45,213 women who received a first false-positive mammography result between 1991 and 2017 and 452,130 matched controls. In addition, the study also included 1,113 women with a false-positive result and 11,130 matched controls from the Karolinska Mammography Project for Risk Prediction of Breast Cancer study. The 20-year cumulative incidence of breast cancer was 11.3% versus 7.3% among women with versus those without a false-positive result (adjusted HR, 1.61). Women aged 60 to 75 at the examination and those with lower mammographic breast density had higher corresponding HRs (HRs, 2.02 and 4.65, respectively). Breast cancer risk was higher for women who underwent a biopsy at the recall compared with those who did not (HRs, 1.77 and 1.51, respectively).
