An interesting piece in the New York Times raised some very different opinions about the real need for yearly mammograms for women under age 50 from experts in the field.

The American Cancer Society seems to want it both ways. In an interview with the Times, its chief medical officer claimed the practice of medicine had exaggerated the real benefit of mammograms. Later on, citing seven studies that showed how mammograms lowered the mortality risks of women, the organization suggested that women over age 40 should still keep having them even though these exams can "miss cancers that need treatment, and in some cases finds disease that does not need treatment."

The conversation began after a Journal of the American Medical Association report questioned whether medicine should rethink its guidance on mammograms, noting such screenings are ideal for finding slow-growing tumors that don't need treatment, but not for spotting deadly and aggressive variations of breast cancer before they spread. Yet, mammograms pick up tumors that grow at a medium rate, and women may benefit the most from this.

On the other hand, however, an article posted on rt-image.com is a worrisome reminder about two studies conducted this year that found many female cancer survivors were skipping their annual mammograms. And, in one such study, childhood cancer survivors were avoiding them despite being at a greater risk of breast cancer.

To our wonderful readers, if you're female north of 40, or a cancer survivor of any age, what say you?

New York Times November 2, 2009

Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 302, No. 15, pp. 1685-1692, October 22, 2009

Image, the source for radiology professionals November 2, 2009

Image source: Dr. Dwight Kaufman, division of cancer treatment/National Cancer Institute