What an interesting week it has been! As I sit here composing this email to you, I believe overall, we are all more educated
about the benefits of mammography screening than we have ever been before!!
The totally irresponsible statements from the Task Force of 'experts' that came to these extraordinary conclusions were reached by consensus in June 2008.
The panel consisted of primary care physicians, no oncologists or breast cancer experts of any description and two insurance representatives. The statements
"screening mammography in women in their 40's causes more harm than good" and even more startling "self breast examination is next to worthless" took us all by storm on Monday.
The established scientific facts that breast cancer experts raised in protest to the recommendations were all confirmed by the Task
Force members, which made the whole drama even more interesting! Since the "harm" was defined as "increasing anxiety, unnecessary additional views and biopsies,"
the message, as we heard it, was "you are not worth it!"
The facts that breast cancer experts reiterated this week:
75% of cancer deaths are in unscreened women
56% of unscreened women die from their breast cancer because they are bigger and more advanced
Regularly screened women die 5% of the time from their cancer and if you exclude the 2 most aggressive cancers, less than 2% die
In my practice, approximately 80% of my newly diagnosed patients are not considered at high risk. Sadly, I diagnose as many cancers
in women in their 40's as in their 50's.
Until we can prevent cancer, I shall continue to make every effort to minimize anxiety to all of you by seeing you within 24 hours of finding a lump on
self breast exam and working up problems in one visit. Since 1 out of every 3 biopsies I recommend are positive for cancer,
I do not feel the 2 false positives I generate outweigh the huge benefit of a cure.
