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Oncology Mammogram Screening Down 13% since 'Flawed' Reports
Mammogram Screening Down 13% since 'Flawed' Reports
Tuesday, 22 June 2010 19:00 | 
| Specialties |
Local doctors have launched an aggressive campaign to counter the U.S. Preventative Task Force's recommendations that women between 40 and 49 will not be required to undergo mammograms.
"Getting a mammogram is one of the most important things a woman can do to live a long, healthy life," says David Oppenheimer, the chief physician of the mammography department of the Boulder Community Hospital. His statement applies to all age groups not just those women older than 50.
One third of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Boulder County are between 40 and 49 years old, according to the Boulder Community Hospital. More than 40 percent are younger than 50- the task force's "arbitrary" age cut-off, Oppenheimer says.
Since the task force's recommendation, the hospital's imaging department reports a 13 % decline in mammograms with the majority of women in their 40s and 50s. Nanna Bo Christensen, the Boulder Community Hospital's Breast Health Navigator, attributes this drop at least in part to the national recommendation.
In fact, the younger the woman, the faster the breast cancer grows, doctors say, due to higher levels of estrogen, which feeds the cancer cells. And if you find cancer before it spreads to the lymph nodes, Oppenheimer says, doctors have a 97 percent chance of curing it. Once it hits the lymphs, the cure rate plunges. The number of women who die from breast cancer is down since 1990, and experts say that's primarily due to increases in the number of women being screened.
The reason why the task force disregarded the mammogram screening is because, they looked at false-positive tests and the related anxiety, unnecessary biopsies and exposure to radiation.
Oppenheimer asserts data used for the recommendation was scientifically flawed, and that the task force left out several important studies to skew the numbers in favor of its recommendation. As to the radiation question, he says about 1 in 3 million mammograms actually causes cancer.
"However, we know that one in eight women are going to get breast cancer in their lives, so the advantages far outweigh the tiny risk," he says.
Mammograms detect cancer 90% of the time, the hospital says, making them the most effective screening tool. A slew of organizations have since denounced the recommendation, including the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Avon Foundation, the Obama Administration, American College of Radiology, American Society of Breast Imaging, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
"Now we as physicians and a health care community have a huge job on our hands to re-educate the community," Oppenheimer says. "Once people stop getting tested, it's a huge effort to convince people to start again."
The U.S. task force also said women older than 50 only need to get a mammogram every two years instead of annually.
By the numbers
- 13 % Decrease in mammograms at the Boulder Community Hospital since the U.S. Preventative Service Task Force recommendation in the fall. The majority of these women are in their 40s and 50s.
- 30 % Decrease in breast cancer's death rate since 1990, nationally.
- 42 % Of women diagnosed with breast cancer at the Boulder Community Hospital were younger than 50
- 32 % were in their 40s.
- More than 30% Decreased death rate, due to mammography screenings for women in their 40s.
- 1 in 8 American women are affected by breast cancer.
- 97 % Chance of curing breast cancer if it's caught before spreading to the lymph nodes.
- About 1 in 3 million Chance of the radiation from a mammogram causing breast cancer.
Source: Boulder Community Hospital, Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
