Why listening to the media reports about mammography is detrimental to your health!

We have blogged before about the benefits of mammography, but recent media articles have tried to suggest otherwise.  We will review one expert opinion today and dissect away at other media hype later in the week.


At the American Society of Breast Disease meeting in Dallas last week, Dr. Robert A. Smith was recognized for his research in cancer screening and gave the Pathfinder Lecture about breast cancer screening.  He is a cancer epidemiologist and Director of Cancer Screening at the American Cancer Society.  You may google him to find out some of his many other accomplishments.


The important points of his talk:

• Mammograms do save lives
• Many studies quoted in the media weren't designed to prove efficacy
• Many studies quoted in the media are old (not modern equipment)
• There is at least a 30% reduction in mortality long term
• For every 414 women screened 7 years 1 life is saved
• 42 years of life are saved per 1000 women screened
• Most lives saved are after 10 years of screening
• Cancers found decrease in size over time
• Fewer node positive cancers are found over time
• The best study is the Swedish Two County Trial

You may read more about this Mammographic Screening trial at http://radiology.rsna.org/content/early/2011/06/15/radiol.11110469.full.

So, lives saved, smaller cancers, more node-negative cancers!  Do I need to say more?

Together we can save 75,000 breast cancer cases every year.