More testing, not less, needed for breast cancer

Survivors, doctors disagree with American Cancer Society’s new guidelines

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According to a report by the New York State Cancer Registry, which is maintained by the Department of Health, the occurrence of female breast cancer in many Nassau County areas is much higher than the state expectancy rate. In fact, of Nassau County’s 65 zip codes, 35 had at least a 15 percent increase in the number of breast cancer cases anticipated in those areas, the report said.

So it stands to reason that when the American Cancer Society loosened its breast cancer screening guidelines last week for women at an average risk for breast cancer — calling for annual mammograms to begin at age 45, not 40 — Diane Jessup, of Malverne, disagreed. “I’m a big proponent of the yearly exams,” said Jessup, who said she had a malignant tumor removed three and a half years ago, and had a benign tumor removed 25 years ago from the same spot at age 35. “They said it was unrelated,” Jessup said, but the experience left her adamant about the importance of annual exams, despite the fact that she had no family history of breast cancer.

In addition to recommending that screening begin at age 45, the society said that annual exams should continue once a year until age 54, and then be done every two years. It also said that it no longer recommended clinical breast exams, in which doctors or nurses feel for lumps in the breast. “How can they tell women, ‘Don’t go to your doctor and don’t let them manually examine your breasts’?” questioned Dr. Abraham Port, co-director of South Nassau Communities Hospital’s Complete Women’s Imaging. “The entire recommendation becomes questionable because of that.”

The change in the recommended age is also disturbing to other doctors, who say they find breast cancer in many patients under 40. “Not to belittle the guidelines, but what we are trying to do is save women’s lives, and when you screen at the appropriate age, you will save a lot of women’s lives,” said Dr. George Autz, Port’s co-director. “There are many younger women who get breast cancer, and there’s no question you will save women’s lives at those ages.”

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