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New Mammogram Advice Raises Questions, Concerns
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CBS4
For many women, getting a mammogram is already one of life's more stressful experiences. Now, women in their 40s have the added anxiety of trying to figure out if they should even be getting one at all.
An expert government task force has announced controversial new recommendations for mammograms. The task force says women should start screening at age 50 and not age 40.
Weijia Jiang explains that in the U.S., breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in females, and physicians worry the new guidelines could lead to even more deaths.
Three years ago, now 29-year-old Christina Dezutter of Hanover was diagnosed with breast cancer after she did a self exam and had a mammogram.
"You realize because you caught it early, there's an option, there's life after this," Dezutter said.
The government task force goes on to say that self breast exams and mammograms are ineffective for younger women like Dezutter.
Researchers found for every one breast cancer death prevented, more than 1,900 women ages 40 to 49 need to be screened. That number drops to 1,300 for those ages 50 to 59 and to nearly 400 for women ages 60 to 69.
The group also says when screening starts at 40, there are more false positives leading to unnecessary biopsies.
"It doesn't make sense to be putting our efforts into doing mammography screening in women under 50 when we can find better tools that will help more women and be more accurate," said Dr. Susan Love, The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.
Another major change is the panel says women ages 50 to 74 only need to be screened every two years, not annually.
Despite the panel's new recommendations, every other major cancer society sent out statements to say they do not plan to revise their advice.
"I think all breast surgeons, radiologists, gynecologists, anyone who has been through the process, disagrees," said Dr. Michael Schultz, Director of St. Joseph Medical Center's Breast Cancer Center.
Schultz worries the new guidelines could be deadly
"This flies in the face of everything we have developed in our care and investigations. We know we find these cancers early, that women are surviving," he said.
Those survivors include women like Dezutter.
"If technology has come to a different length and option to detect breast cancer, tell us about it, but don't say don't do anything because doing nothing is ultimately going to kill you," Dezutter said.
At this point it's unclear if the new guidelines will impact insurance reimbursement for mammograms, which cost on average $125.
It's important to note the new guidelines do not apply to women who are at high risk for breast cancer or who have a family history of the disease.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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© MMX, CBS Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
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