Breast Cancer Screening: Let Evidence Trump Fear

Once again, the United States Preventive Services Task Force’s latest draft report on the potential benefits and harms of mammography screening was met by outcries from radiologists and others that thousands of women would die if the recommendations were followed. The Task Force concluded that women between the ages of 50 and 74 should get mammograms every two years. But for women under 50, the chances that a mammogram will help her rather than harm her are very small. For younger women, the decision to get a mammogram should be made on a case-by-case basis. This is reasonable advice, but you wouldn’t know it from comments on Twitter and in some media outlets. In 2009, when the Task Force last issued recommendations on mammograms, everybody from breast cancer advocacy groups to members of Congress accused the panel of “killing women.” Radiologists, some of whom have a vested financial interest in mammography, claimed the panel used outdated evidence. One newspaper columnist suggested that Congress should “take pity on the Task Force and send it to the Death Panel for a humane end.” The reaction this time around has been only a little less negative. Growing Evidence Of Over-Diagnosis And Over-Treatment Since then, the number of studies of mammography has grown, and if anything, the evidence is even stronger: we are consistently over-diagnosing and over-treating breast cancer — and younger women are paying the highest price. Women under age 50 who get regular...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Featured Insurance and Coverage Payment Policy Population Health breast cancer early diagnosis false positives mammography over treatment United States Preventive Services Task Force Source Type: blogs