Report: Mammograms don't help women in their 40s
Appeared in CNN.
TORONTO, Canada (Reuters) -- Undergoing an annual mammogram before the age
of 50 does not reduce a woman's risk of dying from breast cancer,
according to a new study reported by the Globe and Mail Tuesday.The Canadian study involved 50,430 women in their 40s, who were recruited from 1980 to 1985 as part of the Canadian National Breast Cancer Study. Half the participants had annual mammograms while the other half underwent annual physical examinations by a nurse or physician, the national daily stated. By 1996, 592 women in the mammogram group were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and 105 had died. In the group that received physical exams, 552 women were diagnosed and 108 died. "The data from this research is quite striking and quite clear," said Dr. Cornelia Baines, a professor of public health sciences at the University of Toronto and co-author of the study. "The difference between annual screening compared with the control group is not statistically significant. Breast cancer mortality was not reduced."
 
September 3, 2002.
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