Routine
mammograms contribute just as much as hormone therapy and
chemotherapy in slowing the rate of death from breast
cancer, a study released on Wednesday showed. The
study, based on seven statistical analyses by 43
researchers and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that
screening as practiced in the United States reduced the rate
of death from breast cancer by 7% to 23%, depending on
the analysis.
Although some
researchers have questioned the value of routine screening,
in the United States women are urged to have regular
mammograms beginning in their 40s for early detection
of the disease.
Chemotherapy and
hormone therapy such as tamoxifen reduced the death rate
by 12% to 21%, according to the study led by Donald Berry of
the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in
Houston. A combination of screening and other therapy
reduced the death rate by an estimated 25% to 38%.
"All seven groups
concluded that the decline in the rate of death from
breast cancer is a combination of screening and therapy and
not restricted to one or the other," Berry said.
"Screening would have no benefit if not followed by
treatment, including surgery, and treatment has the
potential to be more effective if cancer is detected at
earlier stages by screening," he added.
The death rate
from breast cancer has decreased by 24% from 1990 to 2000.
This year 215,000
women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer,
and the disease will kill more than 40,000, according to the
American Cancer Society. Some studies have shown that
lesbians are at a higher risk of developing breast
cancer than their heterosexual peers. (Reuters, with
additional reporting by Advocate.com)