Editorial: Screening efficacy analyzed

Monday, Oct. 31, 2005 | 9:46 a.m.

A recent study shows mammograms coupled with the use of new drug regimens -- not screenings or drugs alone -- helped create the drop in breast cancer mortality rates recorded in the last 25 years of the 20th century.

Results of the study, funded by the National Cancer Institute and published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week, also shows that none of the popular methods for detection and treatment contributed to the decline as significantly as has been reported.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women and the leading cause of death in women ages 40 to 55. It strikes an estimated 250,000 women in the United States annually, including 1,400 in Nevada, which ranks fourth nationally in its cancer mortality rate among women.

The new analysis showed the use of post-surgical therapies, such as chemotherapy with tamoxifen, lowered deaths by about 19 percent, rather than by one-third as had been reported in previous studies.

Mammograms, the new study showed, reduced deaths by 15 percent on average, which is lower than the 20 percent to 60 percent estimated by some clinical trials.

One of the researchers noted that mammograms often give false positive results or detect tiny cancers that, if left untreated, would not be life-threatening. And the treatments used to fight those cancers can damage the rest of the body.

Still, this most recent study shows that screenings account for some reduction in death rates, so women should weigh that against the negatives.

The American Cancer Society has long recommended that women undergo mammograms annually beginning at age 40. But this newest study fails to conclusively show that death rates increase if women opt to have mammograms every two years.

Although this most recent research seems to only add to the confusion of what works and what doesn't, it shows that women should remain vigilant about exercising all of the options available to them, from screenings to post-surgical drug therapies.

And because the reductions in deaths aren't as high as past studies had led us to believe, we should continue aggressive research into detection and treatment strategies for this disease that kills nearly 40,000 women each year.