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Community Corner

Study Recommends Mammograms Beginning at 40

Research also finds that self-exams are vital to early detection of breast cancer.

Recent trends in breast cancer detection have wavered. To perform breast self-exams or not? To get mammograms or not?

The worry about breast self-exams is that they may skew results into too many false-positive tests. Some who recommend fewer mammograms have suggested that over-screening leads to unnecessary invasive tests and undue anxiety.

However, the 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium of the American Society of Clinical Oncology overwhelmingly supports these preventive measures. The American Cancer Society agrees.

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“While there has been ongoing debate about when and how breast cancer screening should occur, this study validates that women who undergo regular mammography screening present at earlier stages and often require less aggressive treatment than those who do not,” said Dr. Jamie Caughran, medical director of the Comprehensive Breast Center at the Lacks Cancer Center in Grand Rapids, MI.

In New York, experts predict 15,570 new cases of breast cancer to be diagnosed this year.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control, the female breast cancer incident rate in New York state was 122-124 per 1,000 in 2007, the most recent year available.

Mattituck resident and breast cancer survivor Marie Domenici said getting exposed to the radiation of a mammogram before the age of 50 is a double-edged sword. She began getting mammograms in her early 40s, she said. She was diagnosed in 2002.

“It might be good for younger women to get screened early due to everything we’re subjected to now environmentally,” she said. “But for me, I wonder if the radiation I was exposed to over the course of many mammograms over the years put me at greater risk. Breast cancer does not run in my family.”

After months of treatment in 2002, Domenici has remained cancer free. For her, self-examination is a better way of early detection.

“I was 11 months out from my last mammogram when I found my lump,” she said. “Self-examination is key.”

Caughran, who helped lead the research team for a recent study on mammography, said women aged 40 and up should use both methods for detection. High-risk patients should seek advice from their doctors about the age for and frequency of tests.

The Michigan study, completed this year with data from nearly 6,000 women with breast cancer, counters guidelines by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, which recommends generally that women get mammograms every two years beginning at age 50. The USPSTF notes that screenings should be determined on an individual basis.

Among other findings in the Michigan study:

  • Breast cancer in women younger than 50 was more likely to be detected first by feel than by mammography. Of the women whose tumors were found by feel, 40 percent were younger than 50.
  • Overall, 65 percent of the breast cancer cases were detected by mammography, while 30 percent were detected by feel and the other 5 percent by other methods.
  • For women diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50, 49 percent of the cases were detected by mammogram. Of those, 18 percent were Stage 2 and 4 percent were Stage 3.
  • For women diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50, 46 percent of the cases were detected by feel. Of those, 50 percent were Stage 2, and 17 percent were Stage 3.
  • For women over 50, 81 percent of breast cancers are detected through mammography.


In 2011, ASCO predicts 230,480 new cases of breast cancer for women, 2,140 for men, and 57,650 non-invasive cases. About one in eight women will develop breast cancer, according to ASCO.
“Women of all ages presented with palpable tumors, highlighting the use of self-breast exam as an important public health measure,” Caughran said.

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