Early mammogram testing for breast cancer may be beneficial to patients, according to a study released Monday.
The research published in the journal Cancer claims that more frequent screening among women aged 40 is deemed favorable. Researchers analyzed information from 7,301 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer at several hospitals in Boston between 1990 and 1999 and were followed until 2007.
Of the 609 women who died from breast cancer, 71 percent were women who had not undergone regular breast cancer screening, or were never screened, while 29 percent of those who died did undergo regular screening.
About half of those who died of breast cancer deaths were younger than 50, while only 13 percent of those who died were 70 or older. Most deaths among older women were not related to their breast cancer. The findings suggest that less or less frequent screening at ages older than 69 years, but more or more frequent screening for women younger than 50 years.
"Breast cancer tends to be more aggressive in younger women, but less aggressive in older women," said Dr. Blake Cady, a professor emeritus of surgery at Harvard Medical School in Boston. The study is the latest to weigh in on the debate over what age breast cancer screening should begin.
In 2009, the U.S Preventive Services Task Force changed its breast cancer screening guidelines, and recommended that women ages 50 to 74 receive a mammogram every two years. However, the American Cancer Society still recommends yearly mammograms beginning at age 40.
Some experts criticized the new study, pointing out that the researchers did not look at screening rates among women who survived.
