The following indicators should be monitored:
(1) The rates of use of surveillance mammography among the women at highest risk for recurrence of cancer in the breast or for contralateral new primary breast cancer should be monitored, because these are the women who might benefit the most from surveillance mammography but they are least likely to receive it.
(2) The interval between surveillance mammography and subsequent breast surgery should be monitored, because delay between surveillance mammography and surgery may be inappropriate.
(3) The number of women who undergo subsequent lumpectomy or mastectomy, which is apparently precipitated by surveillance mammography within the preceding four months, should be monitored and compared to the number who undergo surgery without surveillance mammography during the previous four months, because this may reflect the relative effectiveness of surveillance mammography.