Background: Over 3,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed annually in Ireland, an increase of 3.5 percent over the last 10 years. In 1999, breast screening was introduced nationally for women aged between 50 and 64 and is currently being extended. With the advent of Breastcheck, we decided to review the age profile of cancers presenting to our symptomatic breast clinic over this time period with the expectation that the percentage of breast cancers diagnosed in this age group would decline.
Methods: A retrospective review was carried out on a prospectively maintained database of all breast cancer patients diagnosed in Beaumont Hospital over the last 13 years. This cohort of patients was stratified based on age, focusing on patients aged 51–65, excluding those presenting with recurrent disease. We recorded their cancer subtype, nodal involvement and evidence of metastatic disease at presentation.
Results: Over the last 13 years there has been a steady increase in new breast cancers diagnosed via our symptomatic clinic from 133 [2006] to 393 [2018]. During this time period there has been an almost constant percentage of these patients within the 51–65-year-old age group (range, 15–24.5%). Overall, 11.64% of breast cancers diagnosed were DCIS, and 7.8% presented with metastatic disease in 2018 alone.
Conclusions: Despite the introduction of a national breast screening service and increased awareness around health promotion, there is a persistent percentage of our new breast cancers diagnosed within the age-group of patients eligible for breast cancer screening. The reasons for this remain unclear.
