/data/photo/2018/12/18/564481463.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "Breast cancer detection since the age of 40 helps save lives. Page all")
KOMPAS.com – Examination breast to detect cancer from the age of 40 to 50 years can save lives, writes a study in England.
This study involved 160,000 women from England, Scotland and Wales who were practiced continuously for about 23 years.
Early screening can save one life per 1,000 women screened, the researchers said.
However, experts warn there are many other considerations, including costs.
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Cancer Research UK said it was unclear whether lowering the age of breast examinations would provide additional benefits over existing screening programs in the UK.
The charity said a priority should be getting cancer services “back on track” for women ages 50-70 after the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
During the lockdown, screening programs as an early detection measure for colon, breast and cervical cancer were suspended in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, although not officially suspended in the UK.
Experts have warned of an buildup of patients who need to be checked, treated and tested.
Overdiagnosis worry
Currently in the UK, women aged 50-70 are offered to have breast exams every three years.
Women under 50 years old are not offered to have routine check-ups, because of the general risk breast cancer they are very low, and their breast tissue is denser, making the results of mammography tests used to identify cancer cells difficult to read.
This will lead to overdiagnosis – detecting cell changes too early, which may not turn into problematic cancer – and potentially exposing women to unnecessary treatment.
However, it is written on Lancet Oncology, Scientists found a reduction in breast cancer deaths by examining women in their 40s each year, in the first 10 years of their study.
Of the 53,883 women aged 40 who underwent the scan, 83 died. This compared with 219 deaths out of 106,953 women of the same age who did not receive a scan.
The reduction in mortality comes from early detection of stage 1 and 2 cancers, which can develop rapidly in young women.
After 10 years, this evidence of lives saved disappeared, the researchers said.
They also found a “not very high overdiagnosis in this age group” similar to that found in the age group over 50s.
In this study, 18 percent of women who had breast scans in their 40s received at least one positive diagnosis.
Professor Sthepen Duffy, chair of research at Queen Mary University of London said: “This is a long-term follow-up study confirming breast screening in women under 50 can save lives.
“In full time, it is worth considering lowering the age for screening.”
However, he said, the costs involved must be taken into account, and more research is needed for modern scanning equipment to diagnose cancer.
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Great pressure
Sophia Lowes, information manager at Cancer Research UK says her agency is concerned about the research results.
“Many women receive a false diagnosis, and some women will get overdiagnosed with a cancer that is not hurting them,” she said.
“Research to develop screening programs remains important, screening programs are already under great pressure due to the pandemic, and the current priority should get services back on track, namely for women aged 50-70.”
The institute calculates that it takes six times as many women in their 40s, compared to those aged 50-70, to need a test to save one life.
Lowes says it’s important for women – no matter how old they are – to tell doctors if they find anything unusual in their breasts.
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