Post by robeiae on Jan 10, 2017 8:30:28 GMT -5
www.cnn.com/2017/01/10/health/breast-cancer-unnecessary-treatment-study-partner/index.html
It is, I think, a difficult and even treacherous path, that of using the advanced tools we now have to spot potential problems like cancer, then treating those potential problems as if they were absolutely life-endangering, oftentimes with methods that can themselves do serious harm.
One in three women with breast cancer detected by a mammogram is treated unnecessarily, because screening tests found tumors that are so slow-growing that they're essentially harmless, according to a Danish study published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine, which has renewed debate over the value of early detection...
The American College of Radiology, which strongly supports breast cancer screenings, acknowledges that mammograms lead some women to be treated unnecessarily, but said the problem is much less common than the new study suggests. Another study from Denmark -- whose national health program keeps detailed records -- estimated the overdiagnosis rates at only 2.3 percent.
"The amount of overdiagnosis really is small," said Dr. Debra Monticciolo, chair of the American College of Radiology's Commission on Breast Imaging. "Articles like this aren't very helpful," she said, because they leave women confused about how to be screened for breast cancer.
Yet treating women for cancer unnecessarily can endanger their health, said Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, an advocacy group. Radiation can damage the heart or even cause new cancers. Visco notes that breast cancer activist Carolina Hinestrosa, a vice president at the coalition, died at age 50 from soft-tissue sarcoma, a tumor caused by radiation used to treat an early breast cancer.
Women should understand these risks, Visco said. Instead, women often hear only about mammograms' benefits.
The American College of Radiology, which strongly supports breast cancer screenings, acknowledges that mammograms lead some women to be treated unnecessarily, but said the problem is much less common than the new study suggests. Another study from Denmark -- whose national health program keeps detailed records -- estimated the overdiagnosis rates at only 2.3 percent.
"The amount of overdiagnosis really is small," said Dr. Debra Monticciolo, chair of the American College of Radiology's Commission on Breast Imaging. "Articles like this aren't very helpful," she said, because they leave women confused about how to be screened for breast cancer.
Yet treating women for cancer unnecessarily can endanger their health, said Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, an advocacy group. Radiation can damage the heart or even cause new cancers. Visco notes that breast cancer activist Carolina Hinestrosa, a vice president at the coalition, died at age 50 from soft-tissue sarcoma, a tumor caused by radiation used to treat an early breast cancer.
Women should understand these risks, Visco said. Instead, women often hear only about mammograms' benefits.