Screening mammograms: One recommendation may not fit all

To date, official recommendations on when and how often a woman should have a screening mammogram, have been based on risk factors (such as age, a family history of breast cancer, a personal history of radiation to the chest), genetic testing (the BRCA test, for example), or troubling results from a previous biopsy. Race and ethnicity have not officially factored into the equation — yet. Does race matter when it comes to screening mammograms? A recent study by Harvard doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital reinforces prior data suggesting that race and ethnicity can be a separate risk factor for breast cancer, and should be taken into account when advising women on when and how often to have a screening mammogram. The authors studied almost 40 years of data in a massive, publicly available US research information bank called the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, and identified over 740,000 women ages 40 to 75 with breast cancer. They wanted to know if the age and stage at diagnosis differed by race. It did. White women’s breast cancers tend to occur in their 60s, with a peak around 65. However, black, Hispanic, and Asian women’s breast cancers tended to occur in their 40s, with a peak around 48. In addition, a significantly higher proportion of black and Hispanic women have advanced cancer at the time of diagnosis, when compared to white and Asian women. This fits with prior studies, including a separate analysis of data from SEER as well as...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Breast Cancer Health Prevention Screening Women's Health Source Type: blogs