According to a study published in the May issue of American Journal of Roentgenology, mammography remains beneficial for women in their 40s. Researchers from University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine determined that women between ages 40 and 49 who underwent routine screening mammography were diagnosed at earlier stages with smaller tumors than symptomatic women needing diagnostic workup.
Study authors compared 2 groups of women between 40 and 49 years of age and their breast cancer stage at diagnosis. The groups included women undergoing screening mammography and women with a symptom needing diagnostic workup.
After conducting a retrospective chart review of 108 primary breast cancers, researchers discovered that patients undergoing screening mammography were diagnosed at earlier stages with smaller tumors. Screening also allows detection of high-risk lesions, which may prompt chemoprevention and lower subsequent breast cancer risk, according to study authors.
This study follows the November 2009 recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force against annual screening mammography for women between the ages of 40 and 49. However, the American Cancer Society, American College of Radiology, and other professional societies recommend annual exams beginning at age 40.
“Our findings clearly underscore the impact of neglecting to screen women with mammography for women in their 40s,” says the study’s senior author Donna Plecha, MD, director of breast imaging at UH Case Medical Center and assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “Foregoing mammography for women in this age group as recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force leads to diagnoses of later stage breast cancers. We continue to support screening mammography in women between the ages of 40 and 49 years.”
Breast cancer statistics suggest that 1 in 8 women will develop the disease in her lifetime, and a woman’s chance of survival is influenced by the stage at which the cancer is discovered. Physicians are able to identify the smallest abnormalities during annual screening mammography after the age of 40. In fact, when breast cancer is detected early and confined to the breast, the 5-year survival rate is 97%.
“Annual screening mammograms starting at the age of 40 saves lives,” says Plecha. “Breast cancers caught in the initial stages by mammography are more likely to be cured and are less likely to require chemotherapy or as extensive surgery.”
Source: University Hospitals.
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