Mammography saves lives, two European cancer centres report.
Breast cancer deaths in women ages 55 to 74 dropped by about 20 percent after a mammography programme to screen for early signs of the disease was started in The Netherlands, says a report in the April 26 issue of The Lancet by physicians at the Erasmus Medical Center.
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Mammography, rather than better treatment, was responsible for most of the decrease, since the death rate for women who did not have mammography went down by only 16 percent, the report says.
A steady decline in death rate
The nation's breast cancer death rate, which had been going up by 0,3 percent a year, has been declining by 1,7 percent a year since mammography screening began in 1989, the report says.
"The turning point coincided with the year mammography screening was introduced," says Dr Harry de Koning, associate professor of public health at the medical centre and lead author of the report.
And the risk of breast cancer death among women ages 40 to 69 in two Finnish counties dropped by 44 percent, compared to women who were diagnosed with the disease in the years before mammography was introduced, says a report in the same journal by physicians at Falun Central Hospital.
The difference between the two studies
"The papers are not exactly comparable because they used slightly different methods," says Dr Laszlo Tabar, chairman of the mammography department at the Falun hospital and lead author of the Finnish report.
"We could determine in every single case whether the woman actually received a mammogram or declined," he says. "The Dutch study cannot distinguish. Therefore, they are publishing the results of 'invitation to screening' while we can tell the value of 'attending screening.' "
"But taking all these differences into account, both of them clearly demonstrate that early detection and treatment in early stages decreases death from breast cancer significantly."
The benefits of routine screening
De Koning agrees. "Both studies show that routine screening can reduce breast cancer mortality," he says.
In the United States, the National Cancer Institute affirmed its support for mammography screening in January 2002, after a survey paper raised questions about its efficacy. The United States Preventive Services Task Force recommends women 40 and older should receive mammography every one to two years, with or without clinical breast examination. Mammography every one to two years is recommended for women over 50.
Women with a higher risk of breast cancer, because of a family history of the disease or other factors, are advised to consult their doctor early. - (HealthScout News)
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