Women in Mid 40's at Higher Risk of Developing Cancer

Screening mammography for women who are in between 40 and 49 detects 19.3 percent more cancers than screening patients who are 50 and older.

Screening mammography in women who are in the age group of 40 and 49 detects more cancers than screening patients who are 50 and older, reveals a new study.

Screening mammography in women ages 40-49 detects 19.3% additional cancers at the expense of an overall 1.5% increase in callbacks and 0.1% in increased biopsies. The study to be presented by Abid Irshad of the Medical University of South Carolina examined the effectiveness of screening mammography between ages 40-49 in comparison to age groups 50-59 and 60-69.

Outcomes of Screening Mammography for Age, Breast Density, Hormone Therapy Examined By Study
According to a report, woman aging 50 to 74 years who undergo biennial screenings have a similar risk of advanced-stage disease and a lower cumulative risk of false-positive results.

‘The number of cancers detected in women who are in their mid 40's is more than in women who are 50 and above.’

More than 41,000 screening mammography exams were examined for callbacks and recall rate, biopsies performed, cancers detected, and sensitivity and specificity of screening mammography.

Overall, 41,028 mammograms were performed with 5,196 callbacks (12.7% recall rate), 1,164 biopsies, and 326 cancers detected. Women ages 40-49 had 8,913 mammograms, 1,518 callbacks (17% recall rate), 306 biopsies, and 52 cancers detected.

Women ages 50-59 had 13,288 mammograms, 1,659 callbacks (12.5% recall rate), 371 biopsies, and 103 cancers detected, while women ages 60-69 had 12,119 mammograms, 1,239 callbacks (10.2% recall rate), 302 biopsies and 89 cancers detected.

Better Detection Rate in Screening Mammography Using a Novel Technique
Digital mammography screening with new photon-counting technique improves diagnostic performance, suggested a study published online in the journal Radiology

Overall, the women ages 50 and over had a total of 31,385 mammograms, 3,504 callbacks (11.2% recall rate), 836 biopsies, and 270 cancers detected.

By adding the women ages 40-49 to the screening population of 50 and over, the overall callback rate increased 1.5%, the biopsy rate increased 0.1% and 19.3% more cancers were detected.

Go for Annual Screening Mammography Starting at Age 40
In the US, an estimated 252,710 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 63,410 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed by 2017.

The study results showed that there was a higher number of callbacks among women ages 40-49 compared to women ages 50-59 (17% compared with 12.5%) and to women ages 60-69 (17% compared with 10.2%).

There was also a lower positive biopsy rate among women ages 40-49 compared with women over 50.

Women Get Mammograms Every Year
Women are aware that mammograms done every year can save lives. Hence, women prefer getting a mammogram done every year rather than once in every two years.

The number of cancers detected in women ages 40-49 was not significantly different from women ages 50-59 or 60-69.

Source-Eurekalert