The Folly of Limited Screening for Breast Cancer

by the Medical Advisory Board of Women's Voices For Change

introduction by Dr. Elizabeth Poyner

On Monday evening, the way that we are supposed to recommend breast cancer screening to women was radically shaken to the core and has left many physicians and their patients angered and confused. Mammograms have been one of our great triumphs in the early detection of cancer, resulting in fewer deaths from breast cancer in women over the age of 40 years.

On Monday, a panel of medical experts released their conclusions from a re-analysis of mammogram data, which has been analyzed multiple times before and resulted in our current screening recommendations of yearly mammography for women 40 years and above. This panel has now recommended that for women who are not deemed to be at elevated risk for the disease, screening begin at the age of 50 years and then only every two years thereafter. They cite unnecessary anxiety in women undergoing mammography and false positive results leading to negative biopsies as problems with screening women under the age of 50. Many women and their physicians are having emotional and visceral reactions to these new recommendations. My husband, who is a prominent academic breast surgeon in Manhattan, told me bluntly on Monday: "I could fill a room with hundreds of women whose lives were saved by a mammogram under the age of 50 years." It is important to take a step back and really analyze this recommendation, the potential motivating factors behind it, question why we are spending energy reanalyzing old data, and to solicit and review reactions from leaders in breast cancer screening and management. Thomas M. Kolb, M.D., who opens our discussion below, is widely regarded as a leader in the field of women’s health care and imaging. Continue reading at Women's Voices For Change.