By Admin at 25 Mar 2016, 17:21 PM

In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) updated their guidelines for breast cancer screening to recommend women begin mammography at the age of 50 and continue biennially, or every two years, after that.

This year, six independent research teams published the latest analysis to examine breast cancer screening and came up with the same result – the researchers concluded unanimously that women of average risk should start mammography at the age of 50 and get screened biennially.

The analysis factored in new data, including the use of digital mammography and advanced treatments and other risk factors, such as dense breast tissue, which is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and is more difficult to interpret on a mammogram.

The research teams, which are part of the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET), used simulation models to analyze 10 different digital breast-cancer screening strategies to determine what led to the best outcomes for average-risk women.

Scenarios were tested using different starting ages (40, 45 and 50) as well as different intervals between mammograms (one or two years). Information such as breast cancer incidence and risks, treatment effects, risk of dying from other diseases and more were evaluated to determine the optimal screening scenario.

Even with the updates, the analysis found the same screening recommendations released in 2009 apply. Average-risk women between the ages of 50 and 74 should receive mammography screening every two years.

Starting screening earlier, or doing so more often, did prevent a small number of additional cancer deaths, but it also led to a larger number of false positives and unnecessary treatments. Other findings included:

• Screening biennially between the ages of 50 and 74 led to a nearly 26 percent reduction in breast cancer mortality (seven breast cancer deaths were avoided for every 1,000 women screened)
  
  
• The screening recommendations led to 953 false positives and 19 over-diagnosed cases, in which the cancer is small and would not pose a health risk; this amounted to 12 percent of all cases
  
  
• For women with a significantly increased risk of breast cancer, annual screening starting at age 40 or 45 may be beneficial
  
  

Even these screening recommendations should be taken with a grain of salt, however. As researcher Jeanne S. Mandelblatt, MD, MPH, of Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, told Science Daily, “ …. it's important to remember that none of us is the 'average' woman.”

In other words, when to start and stop cancer screening, and how often to receive it, is an individual decision that should be made along with your health care provider.

Sources
Annals of Internal Medicine February 16, 2016
Science Daily January 12, 2016

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