Excellent Op-Ed re New Breast Cancer Guidelines

[Anonymous]

I'd rather get the test, go through a scare, and NOT have cancer then wait a couple of years between tests and then get cancer. I had a friend in her 40s who was doing the every-other-year screening. Found lumps, got cancer, died. 45 years old.

So I'll be getting my annual pap smears and mammograms even if I have to pay for them. But I have that luxury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We always hear about the women that are "saved" by early screening, but how many of you have friends who had an abnormal mammogrm and then a follow-up study, followed by a biopsy and maybe even surgery all to find out there was nothing wrong to begin with as that initial mammogram was a false positive. This happens a lot and is not without its harms.

One of best freinds, called me a few months ago, because her doctor called her and told her the mammo was abnormal. She was hysterical since her 64 year old boss was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. It took a couple weeks before my friend could get a disgnostic mammo and then they decided to do a biopsy just to be sure. Thankfully all was normal, but the physical pain, stress and anxiety it caused really took its tool. What was worse though was as my friend was going through all this she read up more on breast cancer and learned that it is much more common in older woman then in younger women. When we talked about this new recommendation, my friend said wishes she would have waited to have her first mammo

So, remember more testing is not always better, that's why the recommendation says a woman should discuss with her doctor and it should not necessarily be routine.

Yes, and I had a friend who was diagnosed at 41 and died at 43 leaving two young children behind. I'd rather have the stress and anxiety over the tests than to be diagnosed at stage IV because I waited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, and I had a friend who was diagnosed at 41 and died at 43 leaving two young children behind. I'd rather have the stress and anxiety over the tests than to be diagnosed at stage IV because I waited.

ITA

[Anonymous]

The problem with screening is that no test is perfect. Even if you get a mammogram every year, you can still develop an aggressive breast cancer that can kill you. A few years ago a friend of mine had her mammogram in July - completely normal, as they had been for every year. Then after we went on vacation in November, she noticed a lump in her left breast. She saw her doctor right away and had another mammogram that showed a mass. A biopsy confirmed cancer, an aggressive type, so she started treatment immediately. Unfortunately, even with the "best health care in America" she was dead a few months later in April ... less than a year after her normal mammogram.

So, screening every year will not necessarily save you. Of course, you might think that the first mammo was mis-read, but my friend was married to a doctor and he made sure those original mammograms were reviewed by a couple other radiologists. All agreed there was no sign of cancer on the mammo in July.

Given there are harms associated with false positives, I think the key is that women should have a choice and as a previous poster noted that's what the recommendation says. There is not enough evidence to recommend for or against screening, so women should consult with her doctor about what is best for her as an individual. No longer should all women automatically have a mammo at 40 every year.