There’s been a lot of drama in the past few months surrounding mammograms. When should women start getting them? And do they lead to unnecessary treatments?
Well, a British study unveiled this week has helped to answer these questions and demonstrates that the benefits of regular mammograms decidedly outweigh the risks.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t yet got a flawless screening test, and some cases that are picked up wouldn’t have needed treatment,” Stephen Duffy of Queen Mary, University of London, who led two related studies, told Reuters.
“But for every case like this, screening saves two women who would have otherwise died from breast cancer,” he said.
Not only is that a strong statement to make, but a reassuring one for scores of women worldwide.
Duffy and his colleagues reached their conclusion after two studies showed a “substantial and significant reduction in breast cancer deaths” from mammographic breast cancer screening with “between two and two point five lives saved” for every over-diagnosed case. Their results were published in the Journal of Medical Screening.
In one study, researchers predicted the number of women who would have died from breast cancer in Britain if the breast cancer screening program had not been launched in 1988. Another looked at the number of breast cancer deaths among 80,000 women in Sweden, comparing those offered screening with those who were not.
The new information is released just one week after researchers at a European breast cancer conference announced that up to one in three breast cancer cases in the Western world could be avoided through lifestyle improvements like improved diet and increased exercise.
Eating better, exercising more, and having regular mammograms. We know there’s no surefire way to prevent breast cancer, but it’s helpful that research shows there are a few things we can do to at least try to stay healthy and cancer-free.
By Kathy Enrich Dowd for Tonic
