(Thursday, 3 may HealthDay News) - more than half of women in their forties diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine mammogram had no family history of the disease, finds a new study that can add to the debate on the timing of cancer screening.
The researchers say their results point to the value of mammograms of annual screening for women 40 to 49. But others remain convinced.
History of the family usually means a parent first degree of disease (parent, brother or child). People without a family history with cancer of the breast, "64% of these women had invasive disease," said researcher Dr. Stamatia Destounis, a radiologist at Elizabeth Wende Breast Care Center and a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Rochester in New York.
Destounis was to present its findings at the annual meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society in Vancouver on Thursday.
It is one of the many studies conducted to determine the ideal age for women to begin mammography screening and appropriate between projections intervals. In 2009, the controversial U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) triggered when it recommends that Screening Mammograms every two years for women aged 50 to 74, but not younger.
The USPSTF recommended 40 to 49 women at risk middle of breast cancer to discuss the advantages and disadvantages with their doctors and then determine the value of screening. This is because the Working Group found a small advantage for young women and a moderate injury, such as false positive results.
However, the American Cancer Society and other organizations continue to recommend annual screening from the age of 40.
Earlier this week, a review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concludes that in their forties, women who have a family history of breast cancer or extremely dense breasts should consider making a mammography every two years. The researchers said that the benefits of screening every two years outweigh the risk for these women.
In the new study, Destounis and his colleagues evaluated records of all mammograms performed at the 2000 to 2010 Imaging Centre. They focused on 373 women in their 40 diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine mammogram. Among them, 228 - or 61% - had no family history of the disease. Seventeen were excluded because of personal history of cancer or other status at risk.
211 Women remaining almost 64% had invasive disease, and 15% have cancer cells in the lymph nodes.
"This study reinforces the importance of mammography screening in the Group of 40 to 49 years without family history as a risk factor," concluded Destounis.
However, the President of the USPSTF said that the study does not prove that the cancers were detected by mammograms.
"The assumption is made that these women have done better because the cancers found by screening," said Dr. Virginia Moyer, also Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "The only way to know is to randomize [women] screening or not.". This would give a group of women for screening and the other no screening.
Those are the types of studies, the Working Group considered in the production of guidelines 2009, Moyer said. The USPSTF found a small benefit to women in their forties balanced by a moderate risk of harm, she said.
"Their shows only data they find invasive cancer, not that women benefited directly from mammography," said Moyer.
Data and the conclusions of research presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a medical journal reviewed by peers.
More information
For more information on mammograms, visit the American Cancer Society.
SOURCES: Stamatia Destounis, MD, radiologist, Elizabeth Wende Breast Care Center and Clinical Professor, University of Rochester, New York; American Roentgen Ray Society annual meeting, April 29 - May 4, 2012, Vancouver, Canada; Virginia Moyer, M.D., M.P.H., President, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and Professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston
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