Should All Women Have Routine Mammography Screenings?
Posted on April 25, 2008 - Filed Under Health and Fitness | Leave a Comment
The answer is still uncertain. A team of researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research in London tracked 160,900 women for an average of 11 years. The participants were divided into two groups: Women in the study group were offered annual mammography screenings beginning at age 40, while those in the control group were offered annual screenings beginning at age 50.
Deaths resulting from breast cancer among the younger women decreased by only 17 percent, a figure considered by researchers to be not statistically significant. However, the study also found that in this group of women 23 percent had at least one false-positive result, compared with 12 percent of older women. (A false-positive result is an irregularity in the screening process that later turns out not to be breast cancer.)
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