Health & Medicine
71 Percent Die of Breast Cancer Before 50: Study
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Sep 09, 2013 03:06 PM EDT
A new study suggests that women should start receiving mammograms even before the age of 50 in order to help prevent many cancer-related deaths that could occur at an earlier age.
According to lead study author Dr. Blake Cady from the Massachusetts General Hospital, he and colleagues analyzed medical records regarding breast cancer and patients that had been diagnosed between 1990 and 1999 from two Boston Hospitals.
During the follow-up period of 2009, approximately 609 people died. Seventy-one percent were women who had never had a mammogram diagnosis, according to background information from the study, many of whom were under age 50. Only 13 percent of those who died were over 70.
"This is a remarkable achievement, and the fact that 71 percent of the women who died were women who were not participating in screening clearly supports the importance of early detection," said co-author Daniel Kopans, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, via an interview with Science Codex.
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a recommendation in 2009 that suggests women start receiving regular mammograms beginning 50 through 74 every other year. However, this was against doctor's recommendations that they should begin at age 40.
The USPSTF issued this recommendation in the hopes of preventing women from submitting themselves to unnecessary screenings and financial loss.
Would you push for lowering the age of future mammogram screening if it meant more early detections of cancerous cells could be found? Share in the comments below.
The study was published in the online journal Cancer.
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First Posted: Sep 09, 2013 03:06 PM EDT
A new study suggests that women should start receiving mammograms even before the age of 50 in order to help prevent many cancer-related deaths that could occur at an earlier age.
According to lead study author Dr. Blake Cady from the Massachusetts General Hospital, he and colleagues analyzed medical records regarding breast cancer and patients that had been diagnosed between 1990 and 1999 from two Boston Hospitals.
During the follow-up period of 2009, approximately 609 people died. Seventy-one percent were women who had never had a mammogram diagnosis, according to background information from the study, many of whom were under age 50. Only 13 percent of those who died were over 70.
"This is a remarkable achievement, and the fact that 71 percent of the women who died were women who were not participating in screening clearly supports the importance of early detection," said co-author Daniel Kopans, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, via an interview with Science Codex.
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a recommendation in 2009 that suggests women start receiving regular mammograms beginning 50 through 74 every other year. However, this was against doctor's recommendations that they should begin at age 40.
The USPSTF issued this recommendation in the hopes of preventing women from submitting themselves to unnecessary screenings and financial loss.
Would you push for lowering the age of future mammogram screening if it meant more early detections of cancerous cells could be found? Share in the comments below.
The study was published in the online journal Cancer.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone