Mammograms may shrink breast cancer mortality risk

A mammogram is an X-ray of the breast which helps detect breast cancer in women who have no signs or symptoms of the disease, at earlier and more curable stages.

Health experts recommend that women aged 40 and older should have regular mammograms after every 1 to 2 years.

The research and its findings
To evaluate the role of screening mammograms in preventing the risk of breast cancer, Dr. Blake Cady of Cambridge Hospital Breast Center and Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts and his colleagues examined 6,997 Massachusetts breast cancer patients who were diagnosed with the disease between 1990 and 1999.

The medical conditions of these patients were tracked until 2007.

The researchers noted that 80 percent of the breast cancer patients had regular mammograms—at least two screening mammograms every two years.

According to the findings, 461 deaths from breast cancer were reported during the follow up period until 2007.

It was found that nearly 345 (75 percent) women who died of breast cancer did not receive regular mammograms. In comparison, 116 (25 percent) women who died of the disease were among those who were regularly screened and had received at least more than one mammogram.

The researchers concluded that mammography is one of the most powerful tools for improving breast cancer survival rates.

"The most effective method for women to avoid death from breast cancer is to have regular mammographic screening," said Cady.

"Women who are in screening programs have only a 4.7 percent mortality. Women who are not screened have a 56 percent mortality," added Cady.

Previous studies also suggest that regular mammograms lower the risk of dying from breast cancer by 25 percent to over 50 percent.

Barriers to screening
Health experts in United States said that it is not clear why some women do not get mammograms. They suspect that lack of health insurance, poverty, illiteracy, lack of access to proper medical care, could be the possible reasons why some women don’t undergo regular screening mammograms.

Cady noted that some women might also shy away from the screening because they are scared of false-positive reports leading to unnecessary biopsies and anxiety.

However, he said, “When you look at the huge reduction in deaths that can be avoided by mammography, concerns about false-positives and having to undergo biopsies seem minor.”

Latest figures report that breast cancer kills more than 400,000 women a year worldwide.

The findings of the study are to be released at the 2009 Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco, which will take place from Oct. 8 to Oct. 10.