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A new study indicates that a second opinion from a cancer diagnosis specialist may result in a significant modification in the recommended course of treatment and even reduce the risk of breast cancer misdiagnosis.
The study, published in the journal Cancer, involved 149 women who were referred by their physicians to a specialist for a second opinion on their mammograms, x-rays, and biopsy slides.
Surprising Results
Researchers found that on second opinion, there were numerous disagreements that ranged from various interpretations of mammograms to the suggested course of treatment. In fact, six women in the study were found to not have breast cancer at all after a specialist reviewed their test results.
“Having two radiologists read a mammogram is better than one,” said Dr. Michael S. Sabel, surgical oncologist and lead author of the study, who was surprised to find the high change in recommended cancer treatment after a second opinion.
According to the study, specialized breast cancer radiologists gave different interpretations of test results in 45 of the patients in the study.
The most common difference: finding additional cancer sites not noticed during the first review of test results. Six of the patients were found to have remaining cancer from previous tumor removal sites, one case originally thought to be benign was actually invasive, and two patents who had a form of noninvasive breast cancer usually treatable without mastectomy were found to have invasive cancer.
In 11 percent of the cases, a reinterpretation of the patient''s mammograms led to a change in surgical treatment. For an additional nine percent, different interpretations of biopsies led to a change.
“The message here is that when a patient has cancer diagnosis, getting a second opinion is very good bang for the buck, said Dr. Hiram S. Cody III of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
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