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Panel does little to settle mammogram debate
January 23, 1997
Web posted at: 9:41 p.m. EST (0241 GMT)In this stor y:
From Correspondent Eugenia Halsey
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A panel o f breast cancer experts says it will leave it up to women and their doctors to decide whether they should get mammograms in their 40s. It's the latest move in a heated debate over when the check for breast cancer becomes a necessary medical step for wome n.
Health experts agree women in their 50s should get mammograms. The debate centers on whether the tests reduce the risk of breast cancer for women in their 40s, and the latest non-recommendation from a panel brought together by the National I nstitutes of Health did little to settle matters.
Many women did not agree with the ruling, including Demetra Anas, who says an early mammogram saved her life.
"If I hadn't had my mammogram at 35, my children would be orphans," Anas said.
'Women need to know'
Dr. Richard Klausner, director of the National Cancer Institute, says there is enough medical evidence to recommend women be screened in their 40s.
"To my mind, it does look significant. And women need to know that," Klausner said, speaking before NIH panel. "That needs to be clearly part of the information that women and health providers have in making these important personal decisions."
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That's a switch from three years ago when the Cancer Institute stopped recommending women in thei r 40s get breast X-rays, saying there was too little data in favor of it.
Move could cause confusion
The National Cancer Society, which supports mammograms for younger women, says the NIH panel's decision to leave it up to the women will only cause confusion.
"If the panel had difficulty figuring it out, it is much more diffi cult for a woman who does not have medical background to make these decisions," said Dr. Marilyn Leitch of the American Cancer Society.
The Cancer Society says the panel worried too much about the risks of getting a false result, and the possibi lity of women getting too much exposure to radiation. They should have focused on the benefits of detecting a tumor, the society said.
Meanwhile, the National Cancer Institute still might make its own recommendations on mammograms for women, but will wait until next month to decide.
Related stories:
- Three studies recommend earlier mammograms - December 2, 1996
Related sites:
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- National Cancer Institute's CancerNet
- National Institutes of Health
- Breast Cancer Network
- CDC Breast Cancer-Related Projects
- American Cancer Society
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