Health News
2006-04-25
Breast cancer
survivors skip mammograms
More than one
third of breast cancer survivors gradually stop getting
annual mammograms, according to a new study.
More than one
third of breast cancer survivors gradually stop getting
annual mammograms, according to a new study.
The results may
indicate that women grow complacent about medical
screening once they get past the medical scare, said
the
study’s lead author, Chyke Doubeni of
the University of Massachusetts. Others said
it’s more likely survivors avoid screenings because
they dread a recurrence of the cancer and additional
treatment.
“They’re fearful something’s going to
be found,” said Kathryn Edmiston, a Worcester,
Mass., oncologist who specializes in treating breast cancer
patients.
The study found
just 63% of women were getting annual mammograms five
years after breast cancer surgery. The findings were
reported in Cancer, a medical journal published by
the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society.
About 2.3 million
U.S. women have been treated for breast cancer, and
they are considered to be at three times the risk for tumors
in the unaffected breast than women with no such
medical history.
Studies also have
shown that lesbians are at a higher risk for breast
cancer than their heterosexual peers.
The American
Cancer Society recommends all women 40 and older get an
annual mammogram, the procedure for taking an X-ray of the
breast. But studies have shown only about 58% of women
over 40 actually do. Few studies have looked at how
often breast cancer survivors get mammograms.
“The
assumption has been that once women have had breast cancer,
they’re going to recognize the value of a
mammography and get it done,” Edmiston said.
In this study,
researchers reviewed medical records for 797 women who
were diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996 or 1997. All were
55 and older, and the average age was approximately
69.5. All received care from health systems in
Detroit, Minneapolis, Oakland, Calif., or Worcester, Mass.
More than 80% were white.
About 40% had
undergone the removal of one breast, and 55% had undergone
a lumpectomy or some other form of breast-conserving
surgery. Women who’d had double mastectomies
were not included.
About 80% of the
women had mammograms within the first year after
surgery, but the percentage dropped to 63% by the fifth
year, the study found.
Older women,
particularly those with other ailments, were less likely to
get the tests as the years went by. Women who saw a doctor
annually were more likely to get them.
Also, women who'd
undergone breast-conserving treatment were more likely
to get mammograms than women who’d had a mastectomy.
It’s
possible that both complacency and fear may be keeping some
women from follow-up mammograms, said Robert Smith,
the American Cancer Society’s director of
cancer screening.
Also, doctors may
be failing to remind women to get the exams. “The
recommendation and endorsement of physicians can overcome
those issues” of fear and complacency, Smith
said. (AP, with additional reporting by The Advocate)
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