ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2017
Breast Density Notification Legislation and Breast Cancer Stage at Diagnosis: Early Evidence from the SEER Registry.
Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of mandatory mammographic breast density notification on supplemental screening practice in the United States: a systematic review.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2021Pooled it
- Association of Breast Density with Breast Cancer Risk and Stage at Diagnosis: A Korean Nationwide Cohort Study.Cancers · 2025Article
- Where are we now and where do we go from here? A structured literature review analyzing the current state of breast density research trends and discussions.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2025Review
- Perception of Breast Density Information Among Women in Miami, FL: a Qualitative Study.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2022Article
- Association of Breast Density With Breast Cancer Risk Among Women Aged 65 Years or Older by Age Group and Body Mass Index.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- The Impact of Breast Density Notification Laws on Supplemental Breast Imaging and Breast Biopsy.Journal of general internal medicine · 2019Article
- Performance of Screening Ultrasonography as an Adjunct to Screening Mammography in Women Across the Spectrum of Breast Cancer Risk.JAMA internal medicine · 2019Observational
- Breast Density Legislation and the Promise Not Attained.Journal of general internal medicine · 2019Article
- The impact of legislation mandating breast density notification - Review of the evidence.Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2018Review
- Combined diagnosis of breast cancer in the early stage by MRI and detection of gene expression.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2018Article
- Assigning responsibility to close the loop on radiology test results.Diagnosis (Berlin, Germany) · 2017Article
- Supplemental Breast Cancer Screening: A Density Conundrum.Journal of general internal medicine · 2017Article
- The Ethics of Technology for Population Health.Journal of general internal medicine · 2017Article
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5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTwenty-eight states have passed breast density notification laws, which require physicians to inform women of a finding of dense breasts on mammography.
objectiveTo evaluate changes in breast cancer stage at diagnosis after enactment of breast density notification legislation.
designUsing a difference-in-differences analysis, we examined changes in stage at diagnosis among women with breast cancer in Connecticut, the first state to enact legislation, compared to changes among women in control states. We used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) registry, 2005-2013.
participantsWomen ages 40-74 with breast cancer.
interventionBreast density notification legislation, enacted in Connecticut in October of 2009. MAIN MEASURE: Breast cancer stage at diagnosis. KEY
resultsOur study included 466,930 women, 25,592 of whom lived in Connecticut. Legislation was associated with a 1.38-percentage-point (95 % CI 0.12 to 2.63) increase in the proportion of women in Connecticut versus control states who had localized invasive cancer at the time of diagnosis, and a 1.12-percentage-point (95 % CI -2.21 to -0.08) decline in the proportion of women with ductal carcinoma in situ at diagnosis. Breast density notification legislation was not associated with a change in the proportion of women in Connecticut versus control states with regional-stage (-0.09 percentage points, 95 % CI -1.01 to 1.02) or metastatic disease (-0.24, 95 % CI -0.75 to 0.28). County-level analyses and analyses limited to women younger than 50 found no statistically significant associations. LIMITATIONS: Single intervention state, limited follow-up, potential confounding from unobserved trends.
conclusionsBreast density notification legislation in Connecticut was associated with a small increase in the proportion of women diagnosed with localized invasive breast cancer in individual-level but not county-level analyses. Whether this finding reflects potentially beneficial early detection or potentially harmful overdiagnosis is not known. Legislation was not associated with changes in regional or metastatic disease.
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