Health
Missing Mammograms is Worse Than I Thought
Regular mammograms cut the risk of breast cancer death.
I am a radiation oncologist with a special interest in breast cancer. A recent study funded by the American Cancer Society (ACS) recently stopped me in my tracks. Researchers looked at over half a million women, representing the first time the ACS has looked at whether regular screening offered a mortality benefit.
Breast cancer screening with mammograms has helped to meaningfully reduce breast cancer deaths by enabling detection of cancer at earlier, more treatable stages.
Today we look at the perils of skipping even a single scheduled mammogram screening study. The new study is particularly timely, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic-associated suspension of some screening services as well as lingering fears caused by the epidemic.
International imaging expert László Tabár, MD, from Falun Central Hospital in Falun, Sweden led a multinational team of researchers. They looked carefully at screening attendance patterns of over half a million women eligible for mammography screening in Sweden between 1992 and 2016.
The investigators divided the women into groups based on their participation in the two most recent scheduled screening examinations…
