Introduction:

Breast cancer screening in Colombia is performed following the “Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social” guidelines, through annual clinical examination starting with women 40 years old and biennial mammography in women between 50 and 69 years old. The article shows the experience in screening with mammography and breast clinical examination in the state of Huila, Colombia.

Methods and materials:

The state of Huila, located in southern Colombia, has a population of 1,097,615. Fifteen townships were selected for the study. Screening was carried out between June 2011 and December 2013. A customized vehicle stayed in every single township during an stablished period of time. This mobile unit was equipped with a reception area, a doctor´s office and a digitalized mammography unit. Screening was performed by breast clinical examination and a two-projection mammography.

Results:

5,212 patients were screened, of which 4,995 had complete information. 100 women (2%) had positive clinical breast examination findings; 51.9% of the mammographies were BI-RADS 3, and 56 (1.12%) were BI-RADS 4 or 5. Diagnosis of cancer was confirmed in 29 patients, 9 of them with carcinoma in situ, and 20 with infiltrating carcinoma, of which 17 (59%) had early stage tumors.

Discussion:

This work shows that it is possible to screen for mammary cancer with mammography and breast clinical examination in townships away from the large urban centers of Colombia, provided there are a basic infrastructure and general physicians or nurses with training in early detection of breast cancer.

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