Benefits Outweigh Risks for Mammograms for Women in 40s

Comstock/Jupiterimages(WASHINGTON) — Do mammograms cause more harm than good? The newest study of breast cancer screening comes down in favor of them. The research, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that the benefits of mammography screenings outweigh the risks — at least if the tests are done every other year in high-risk women in their 40s.

Women who fit the category had to have at least a two-fold higher risk of developing breast cancer than the average woman. Factors that put women at such risk include having dense breast tissue (about 13 percent of women ages 40 to 49) or having a first-degree relative with the disease (about 9 percent of women ages 40 to 49).

“Benefits” of screening were characterized by increase in life-years and decrease in breast cancer deaths. “Harms” were defined as false positives that can lead to follow-up surgical procedures, pain and anxiety.

Data for the study were taken from three national research groups, including the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC), Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) and the Oregon Evidence-Based Practice Center.

“This research provides important new evidence to support the use of personalized, risk-based breast cancer screening approaches,” said Dr. Jean Mandelblatt, lead author of the study and associate director for population sciences at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Nevertheless, Mandelblatt said, “I know that women want to know what they should do and the message remains unchanged. They should talk about their risk factors and preferences for the harms of screening with their health care providers to make the best decision for themselves.”

Yearly mammograms are currently recommended by the American Cancer Society in women 40 and over, and women should continue their yearly screening as long as they’re in good health. These guidelines are different from those of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which currently suggest that women only start receiving mammograms every two years at age 50.

But Dr. Barbara Monsees, professor of women’s health and radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said that most women who develop breast cancer have no known risk factors, and therefore oncologists will miss most cancers if those screenings only happen once every two years.

“Younger women have faster-growing tumors and need to be screened yearly, not every other year,” she said.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio