Regular screenings still best way to detect cancer in time
When polio was crippling thousands of American youngsters, parents breathed a sigh a relief after a vaccine was developed in the 1950s. Would parents have neglected getting a polio vaccine for their children? Of course not. So why is it that nationwide, fewer women are now getting mammograms — the best proven tool against breast cancer?
A new report in the American Cancer Society journal Cancer shows that the overall rate at which women are undergoing regular mammograms dropped 4 percent between 2000 and 2005, causing some officials to fear that the trend might result in increased breast cancer mortality rates.
“It’s a report that surprised and shocked a lot of people, because there’s been such a focus on early detection,'’ said Becky Hamilton, executive director of the Greater Nashville chapter of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s largest grass-roots network of breast cancer survivors and activists. “We encourage monthly self-examinations, but mammograms are the best method out there for early detection.'’
The report, put together from a survey of approximately 10,000 women by the National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that overall, the percentage of women who said they had received a mammogram in the past two years fell from 70 percent in 2000 to 66 percent in 2005. The greatest drop, 6.8 percent, was among women 50-64 — the age group most likely to benefit.
Authors of the report say the reasons for the decline in regular mammograms are unclear but could include fewer women having insurance coverage; higher co-pay amounts; doubts about the effectiveness of mammograms; less concern about breast cancer risk; and fewer doctors performing mammograms, resulting in longer wait times.
“Members of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure health sciences team want women to know that breast cancer is not just one disease, but many diseases,'’ the organization said. “Some breast cancers are more aggressive than others. Some will spread earlier than others.
“There is currently no better tool for the early detection of breast cancer than screening mammography,'’ the group said in urging that women over 40 make screening part of an annual checkup.
Thankfully, women in Tennessee seem to understand that fact. According to the state Health Department, mammography rates have been increasing. A monthly telephone survey of randomly selected adults in the state indicated that women reporting having a mammogram are up almost 4 percent from 2000 to 2006.
Meanwhile, the American Cancer Society estimates that 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to occur nationwide among women during 2007. The society also estimates 40,910 breast cancer deaths (40,460 women, 450 men) are expected in 2007.
Death rates from breast cancer have steadily decreased in women since 1990, with larger decreases in women younger than 50 (a decrease of 3.3 percent per year) than in those 50 years and older (2 percent per year). These decreases are due to a combination of earlier detection and improved treatment.
That is the main reason why more and more women need to be continually educated about the importance of having a mammogram every one or two years. While mammograms are not always perfect, early detection is proven to save lives and increase treatment options. On the other hand, a reduction in mammograms could translate into an increase in breast-cancer deaths.
