UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective: The Utah Cancer Control Program (UCCP), in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Utah's Local Health Departments, works to promote breast cancer screening and detect breast cancer at earlier stages.

Methods: Since the initiation of the Medicaid Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act (MBCCTA) in July 2001, 258 women under the age of 65, living at or below 250% of Federal Poverty Level, with no credible medical insurance have received treatment for breast cancer. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the UCCP in detecting breast cancer at earlier stages, data collected on MBCCTA clients initially screened and diagnosed by the UCCP (n=124) were compared with data collected on MBCCTA clients referred to the UCCP after diagnosis (n=134). Stage at diagnosis for all invasive breast cancers detected among women in these two groups was compared.

Results: Among MBCCTA breast cancer clients screened and diagnosed by the UCCP, 30.3% of clients with invasive cancer were diagnosed with Stage I cancer compared to 22.1% of clients referred to the UCCP after diagnosis (p=.10). Of MBCCTA breast cancer clients, 10.1% of UCCP-screened clients were diagnosed at Stage IV compared to 21.3% of clients referred after diagnosis (p=.01). To explain staging differences, previous screening history for both groups was examined. Earlier staging occurred among women screened and diagnosed by the UCCP who had multiple screenings documented by the program.