STATEMENT FROM VCU BREAST IMAGING EXPERT REGARDING MAMMOGRAMS FOR WOMEN AGES 40 – 49

By Andrea Butler
Massey Cancer Center

Studies and an editorial published in today’s Annals of Internal Medicine suggest that mammograms are not beneficial to women ages 40 – 49. These reports contradict volumes of science with regards to mammography’s proven record of saving and extending lives.

Gilda Cardeñosa, M.D., director of breast imaging at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and a world-class clinician, researcher and medical textbook author, has thoroughly reviewed the reports and provides important insight on this topic. She is also a key member of the Breast Health Center at VCU Massey Cancer Center.
Dr. Cardeñosa’s Statement:

The current best standard of care for women ages 40 – 49 who are at average risk for breast cancer is to get annual screening mammograms.
 
A new report runs counter to the scientific information that the worldwide breast imaging research community has acquired over the last several decades. The report relies on computer models for its data and includes many assumptions.

The gold standard for medical research is through clinical trials on human subjects in which one group of participants are randomly assigned a treatment or procedure, and another group, the control group, is not.

Data from seven randomized clinical trials have demonstrated that screening mammography in women ages 40 – 74 reduces breast cancer mortality. For the 50 years prior to the introduction of mammography in 1990, breast cancer mortality rates were flat. Since routine screening guidelines were adopted in the United States in 1990, we have seen mortality from breast cancer decrease by 30 percent.

I join many other physicians, researchers and breast cancer awareness advocates in urging women to not be alarmed by this new report, and to continue to get annual mammograms.

For additional information or to see a video of Dr. Cardenosa addressing this topic, visit http://www.vcubreastimaging.com.