Many women fail to get regular mammograms
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More than one-third of New Hampshire women eligible for mammography have either never had the Breast cancer screening test or have not been tested in more than two years, a new study shows.
The findings suggest to investigators that other studies may have overestimated the number of women who get screened for Breast cancer regularly.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends women over 40 have a screening mammogram every one to two years.
Most studies investigating rates of Breast cancer screening rely on reports from women themselves, often months after the fact, and such studies also frequently look at only a single health care setting.
Breast cancer occurs when a cell within a breast undergoes changes that cause it to grow and divide uncontrollably. The tumor that develops from this will destroy tissue around it. Any tissue in the breast can be affected. Usually the cancer arises from tissue that forms milk ducts. Both women and men can develop breast cancer, but it is very rare in men.
What is going on in the body?
A tumor in the breast does not affect the bodily function of the breast. For example, the breast may remain sensually active. It can change with the menstrual cycle or pregnancy and can produce breast milk. A tumor will cause destruction of tissue within the breast. Spread of the tumor to other parts of the body can cause death.
Cancer of the breast can be detected when it grows large enough to either be felt or seen on a mammogram. Sometimes a tumor isn’t found for many years. The tumor may distort the shape of the breast or the texture of the skin as it becomes larger. This is because surrounding tissues become fixed to the tumor. The tumor will grow through the breast to the outer skin if left untreated.
In the current study, Dr. Patricia Carney and colleagues at Dartmouth Medical School used 2000 New Hampshire census data and information from the New Hampshire Mammography Network (NHMN) to follow all women 40 and older in the state for a 27-month period, determining if they had undergone a mammogram during that time.
Registries like the NHMN, they explain in the journal Cancer, “provide a more comprehensive picture of the process of screening as it actually occurs in community-based settings, which is the predominant model for Breast cancer detection in the U.S.
The researchers found 36 percent of women over 40 had either never had a mammogram or had not had the test in more than 27 months. Twenty-one percent of women 80 and older had Breast cancer screening at least every two years, compared to about 70 percent of women aged 40 to 69.
A previous study covering the same time period found 82 percent of New Hampshire women 50 and older reported having had a mammogram within the previous two years, Carney and her team note.
“Routine mammography screening may be occurring less often than believed when survey data alone are used,” Carney and her team conclude.
“An important, compelling concern” is the reason why women did not return for additional screening after only one or two mammograms, they say. This issue deserves additional research.
SOURCE: Cancer September 12, 2005.
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