Younger women at increased risk for breast cancer may benefit from biennial mammography screening beginning at age 40, according to a pair of studies published May 1 in Annals of Internal Medicine.
The addition of a screening ultrasound or MRI exam to annual mammography in women with an increased risk of breast cancer and dense breast tissue resulted in a higher rate of detection of incident breast cancers, according to a study published April 4 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The authors noted downsides to both modalities, reinforcing the notion there may be no easy answer to the question of how to best deliver supplemental screening to women with an increased risk of breast cancer.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s (USPSTF) 2009 recommendation against routine breast cancer screening for women younger than age 50 continues to make waves. Recent research has shown that fewer women need undergo clinical screening to save a life than estimated by USPSTF’s analysis, according to a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.
An updated model of the Forrest report provided new kindling in the screening mammography firestorm by suggesting that breast cancer screening may cause more harm than good. The study, published Dec. 8 in British Medical Journal, focused on quality-adjusted life years and, unlike the original 1986 Forrest report, incorporated screening harms in the analysis.
Yet another study has confirmed that screening mammography reduces breast cancer mortality. Women who participated in at least three screening mammograms had a 49 percent lower risk for breast cancer mortality, according to a large case-control study published online Dec. 6 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
More than half of women will receive at least one false-positive recall after 10 years of annual mammography screening, according to a study published Oct. 18 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The findings may fan the flames of the screening debate as an accompanying editorial suggested that the results support screening intervals of two years or more. However, educating women about the incidence of false positives may reduce anxiety, according to the lead author.
The burden of breast cancer deaths has shifted to poor women, according to “Breast Cancer Statistics, 2011,” a report issued by the American Cancer Society (ACS). Poor women are less likely than non-poor women to undergo screening mammography, which may be a factor in the disparate death rates, according to the authors.
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