“One challenge we face is that if a small tumour that is most likely benign is discovered, we can’t take the chance of not treating it. This means that women have to go through unnecessary cancer treatment, with all of the social and personal costs that entails”.
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The study involved analysis of data of at least 16 million females 40 years old and above from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registry across 547 USA counties. The researchers followed up for 10 years. Most of those included in the study were women of above 40 who had undergone mammogram screening between 1998-2000. But, according to recent data, those programs can lessen chances of death as a result of breast cancer by below 10%.
That wasn’t the case.
Professor Richard Sullivan, from the Institute of Cancer Policy, King’s College London observed that “these findings were in sharp contrast with screening for cervical and colorectal cancers, two cancers for which studies have clearly shown the capacity of screening to reduce the numbers of advanced cancers in populations”.
So what’s a woman supposed to do with this information?
“Sadly, we are left in a conundrum”, the commentary authors wrote.
The team found that in areas where mammograms were used more, the number of women who were told they had cancer increased.
(NBC NEWS):-A new study adds to the confusing questions about mammograms and how many lives they save.
But there was no reduction in the number of large tumours – which should have been seen if the cancers had been spotted before they grew.
The findings suggest breast cancer screenings lead to overdiagnosis because they mainly catch smaller tumors, the researchers say.
This latest study however over screening for breast cancer threatens to reopen a debate again. Instead, they note that the benefits of screening will probably be more favorable when screening is directed at people with a high risk of the disease – such as those with a family history of breast cancer. More money should be given to research so that we have more knowledge about which tumours do and do not need treatment.
“We need clear communication and better tools to help women make informed decisions regarding breast cancer screening mammography….”
“That is so hard”, Elmore says. “The discovery could also enable experts to predict which patients might be at risk of their breast cancer spreading, and develop drugs to prevent the growth of secondary tumors”. This suggests that overdiagnosis was occurring.
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“The whole point of breast cancer screening, in anyone, is to find breast cancer early. Overdiagnosis and overtreatment are now widely acknowledged to be an important harm of medical practice, including cancer screening”, Elmore and Etzioni said in the report. “This is something that wasn’t even considered when I was in med school years ago”.
