‘Breast Cancer Screening May Not Be Worthy For Women Over 70’

The risks of screening mammograms to catch breast cancer may outweigh the benefits for certain women aged 70 or older, new research indicates.
The findings were published Aug. 8 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
“For women who are on the younger end of the age range and who are generally healthy, the risk of overdiagnosis from screening may be acceptably low,” said study author, Dr. Ilana Richman, a general internist and health services researcher at Yale Cancer Centre in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. “For older women and those with other serious medical conditions, the risks of overdiagnosis are higher and may outweigh the benefits of screening.”
The American Cancer Society recommends that women aged 55 and older undergo mammograms every two years or continue annual screening, and it states that such screening should continue as long as a woman is in good health and expected to live for 10 or more years.
The study, which included close to 55,000 women aged 70 years and older who had been recently screened for breast cancer, found that the risk of overdiagnosis increased with age. Specifically, about 31percent of breast cancers picked up among women aged 70 to 74 were considered overdiagnosed. In women aged 74 to 84, up to 47percent of breast cancers were overdiagnosed. The risk of overdiagnosis was highest in women aged 85 and older, the study showed.
“Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer typically undergo treatments including surgery, and possibly radiation, chemotherapy and long-term medications,” Richman said. “What this means is that some women end up getting these relatively intensive treatments for a breast cancer that never would have caused symptoms.”
The value of early detection with a mammogram is improved quality of life and reduced risk of dying from breast cancer, said Dr. Marisa Weiss, chief medical officer and founder of Breastcancer.org.
“For women aged 70 and older who are expected to live another 5 to 10 years, and without other significant active [diseases or conditions], mammography remains important,” said Weiss.