Study discovers lower cost for breast cancer care using MMG screening

The average cost declined by 28.4%.

A study showed that the average cost of breast cancer treatment per patient was lower by 28.4% with screening using the MMG-detected method compared with self-detection.

The study was published by The Hong Kong Breast Cancer Registry (HKBCR), run by the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation Limited (HKBCF).

“This was mainly driven by the downstaging of breast cancer and less intensive cancer treatment at the time of diagnosis,” read the statement.

When using screening MMG as a breast cancer detection method in a 100,000-person cohort starting breast screening from the age of 40, it saved $774.6m on the total cost of treatment in the long run.

In 2020, 4,956 women and 32 men were diagnosed with breast cancer and on average about 14 women died of breast cancer every week. Screening of breast cancer with mammography must be promoted to remedy the alarming situation.

During the same period from 2006 to 2018 under analysis, breast cancer detection was 82.3% by self-detection compared to only 11.1% detected through MMG screening. Highlighting the low detection rate via screening which is lagging in the world trend of breast screening.