02/10/2015
Mammography has been promoted as the best way to screen women for breast cancer. There is no question that mammography identifies breast cancer at an earlier stage when compared to older techniques like the breast exam. However, the key question to ask is, “Do women who undergo mammography have a lowered mortality rate compared to women who do not undergo mammography?” As reported in a September, 2015 study in JAMA Internal Medicine article, researchers studied 16,120,349 women over the age of 40 who resided in 547 counties across the U.S. during a one-year period. The researchers correlated their findings with breast cancer incidence and mortality data during the ensuing 10 years. The scientists found a direct correlation between screening mammography and breast cancer incidence. In fact, they found a 16% mean increased incidence of breast cancer in women screened with mammography. However, there was no significant change in mortality in those screened with mammography. The authors noted, “Although it has been hoped that screening would allow breast-conserving surgical procedures to replace more extensive mastectomies, we saw no evidence supporting this change.” Comment: 2 years ago, I wrote about the failure of mammograms in reducing mortality from breast cancer in my [...]
