Cancer screening recommendations receive mixed reviews
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 12/01/2009
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Two groups are recommending that women put off being screened for breast and cervical cancer until a later age than medical experts suggest.
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, a government panel, announced women can push back the date of their first mammograms by 10 years: from age 40 to age 50. They also suggested that healthy women should be screened every other year, rather than every year. The recommendations apply to women who do not have a history of breast cancer in their family.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists responded by releasing new guidelines for cervical cancer screenings stating that women should delay their first pap smear until age 21 instead of 18, and not be screened every year. They said they wanted to decrease unnecessary testing and potentially harmful treatments teenagers and young adults sometimes undergo.
A Purdue assistant professor of health communication, Jake Jensen, said he has reviewed the suggestions for breast cancer.
“I do not think people should follow the new cancer screening recommendations. For mammography, women should continue to start annual screening at age 40,” Jensen said. “The recent report recommending a change to 50 lacks sufficient support. If you read the report, you will be surprised at how uncertain it is.”
Sarah Sayger, medical director and assistant health director at Purdue Student Health Center, said she thinks the recommendations were researched thoroughly.
“These recommendations generally are well thought-out and are evidence-based after reviewing hundreds of thousand of records (and/or) outcomes,” she said.
Sayger said she isn’t sure of her opinion on the recommendations because she hasn’t read the reports completely, but she hopes students don’t get confused.
“I hope that students do not confuse the cancer screen test - the PAP smear - with the annual health assessment exam. The recommendation for examination has not changed,” Sayger said.
As for family history, Jensen said a history of cancer accounts for a very small amount of cases.
“Family history only explains 5 percent of breast cancer incidence. The public falsely believes that family history is the primary risk factor for cancer. In fact, for most cancers, it accounts for about 3-5 percent of incidence,” he said.
Jensen said there are some easy points of reference that women with a family history of breast cancer can use.
“The basic rule of thumb is to start screening 8 years prior to the age your family member was diagnosed,” he said.
Sayger said she thinks the decision of when to be screened should be left up to the patient.
“The decision to order or to have a mammogram needs to be reviewed with the patient (and individual needs) and the health care provider,” she said. “No one is cookie cutter.”