There arent too many studies on the rate of misdiagnosis of breast cancer in real-world scenarios.
How Often Does Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis Occur?
Healthcare providers diagnose over 280,000 cases of breast cancer a yearthat’s about 15% of all cancers.
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The five-year relative survival rate for breast cancer is 90.6%, based on data from 2012 to 2018.
Getting an accurate diagnosis of breast cancer is important.
Breast cancer is much easier to treat and has much higher survival rates when diagnosed early.
The five-year survival rate for breast cancer that hasnt spread to other tissues is 99.1%.
If it has spread to other organs, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer is 30%.
A few specific conditions have symptoms similar to breast cancer.
Fibrocystic Breast Changes
Lumps are often cysts or fibrosis in the breast.
These two types of growth are often discussed together as fibrocystic changes.
Cystsare fluid-filled pockets that feel round and moveable.
They can grow up to 2 inches across.
Fibrosis, on the other hand, is scar tissue and feels rubbery and firm.
Fibrocystic changesare common in younger females under 40.
Those who are menstruating may feel cysts or fibrotic lumps grow and become more painful just before their period.
Fibrocystic breast changes can make the breast swell and cause tenderness or pain.
They often form a lump in the breast and may cause nipple discharge.
These are all common symptoms of breast cancer as well.
But breast cancer is less common in these younger females.
Some cysts carry a risk of being cancerous.
A complex cystic and solid mass has a solid part or a thick outer wall.
Pregnancy-Related Breast Changes
Normal pregnancy and breastfeeding can cause many changes to the breasts.
These changes may make pregnancy-related breast cancer harder to diagnose.
The breast may develop a hard lump, look red, feel hot, and itch.
You may also have flu-like symptoms.
IBC may make the breast feel swollen, red, hot, and itchy.
It is rare but occurs more often in females under 40those still likely to be pregnant and breastfeeding.
It usually doesnt cause a traditional lump seen on a mammogram.Mastitis is much more common than IBC.
Less than 5% of breast cancers are inflammatory.
Contributing Misdiagnosis Factors
Many factors are at play when getting a breast cancer diagnosis.
They may misdiagnose a lump as a cyst or swelling as mastitis.
During amammogram, a radiologist may misclassify what they’re seeing.
For example, mammograms aren’t 100% accurate in showing if a female has breast cancer.
Conversely, mammograms can look free of cancer even when cancer is present.
Overall, screening mammograms miss about 1 in 8 breast cancers.
Mammograms are even more of an issue with females with dense breast tissue.
Consider a follow-up mammogram or other breast imaging study if you havedense breasts.
Some radiology practices specialize in addressing the needs of people with denser breasts.
Some cancers can be seen better with alternate screening methods.
During a biopsy, the surgeon may miss the tumor while taking the sample.
Or thepathologist(a physician specializing in laboratory and anatomical medicine) may analyze your biopsy sample incorrectly.
They may under-interpret early and precancers and over-interpret some samples as more cancerous than they are.
Summary
When being diagnosed with breast cancer, there are many ways that things can go wrong.
Your healthcare provider may miss your symptoms or think another disease caused them.
This is a misdiagnosis.
A mammogram may miss your cancer if the radiologist reading the results interprets them as benign, not cancerous.
This is a missed diagnosis.
It isn’t known how often breast cancer is missed, misdiagnosed, or overdiagnosed.
General figures for misdiagnosis of all conditions tend to be around 5%.
Overdiagnosis by screening mammograms may be much higher.
They are human beings, and they make mistakes.
Trust your gut if you think something isn’t right.
If you have cancer and were misdiagnosed, you won’t regret the extra effort.
Frequently Asked Questions
A healthcare provider may analyze your breast cancer biopsy sample wrong.
A 2015 study put pathologists to the test interpreting breast biopsies.
In many cases, the pathologists interpretation did not match the actual condition presented in the test slides.
Some underdiagnosed cases of precancers, stage 0 cancers, and stage 1 cancers.
Others overdiagnosed these cancers as more advanced than they were.
If breast cancer is more advanced because of the diagnosis delay, treatment will likely be more aggressive.
A misdiagnosis may negatively impact your life, treatment options, or prognosis.
National Cancer Institute.Cancer stat facts: female breast cancer.
American Cancer Society.Seeking a second opinion.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Pregnancy-related breast cancer.
American Cancer Society.Inflammatory breast cancer.
Greenberg P, Ranum D, Siegal D.Navigating risks in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.Patient Saf Qual Healthc.
Patient Safety connection.Delayed breast cancer diagnosis: a false sense of security.
Elmore JG, Longton GM, Carney PA, et al.Diagnostic concordance among pathologists interpreting breast biopsy specimens.JAMA.
2015;313(11):1122-1132. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.1405
American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys.What is medical malpractice?
