Healthy Breasts For Every Woman

In my February newsletter I reported about the concerns that mammograms were leading to unnecessary surgery in women who were found to have ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and that in many of these cases, the women would not have gone on to develop breast cancer.

Now there is a study showing that more lives are saved than cases overdiagnosed.  The study was undertaken by experts from the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry and appears in the Journal of Medical Screening.  It focused on data from 80,000 women from the age of 50 and looked at data from Sweden and England before and after the introduction of screening.

The research estimated that 5.7 breast cancer deaths were prevented for every 1,000 women screened over a 20-year period in England.

At the same time, 2.3 women per 1,000 were told they had a lump but it was not clear if it was an aggressive form of cancer that needed to be treated.

Put another way, for every 28 cases diagnosed, 2.5 lives were saved and one case was over-diagnosed.

To read more go to http://www.nhs.uk/news/2010/03March/Pages/Breast-cancer-screening.aspx

It is confusing for women when they hear conflicting stories.  And these studies do not consider the safety of mammograms themselves.

As part of my campaign, Healthy Breasts For Every Woman, I inform women about Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging as it can detect abnormalities in the breast about eight years earlier than a mammogram and covers the whole chest area, including the armpits, not just the part of the breast which can be put in the clamp.  It is also useful for monitoring any changes in the breast.  It is pain-free and non-invasive.  It is not currently available on the NHS but the cost is certainly not prohibitive.  Go to www.meditherm.com to find your local practitioner.

Nikki Mattei

More than 7,000 women a year screened for breast cancer are wrongly told they have the disease, it was claimed yesterday.

The misdiagnoses lead to unnecessary treatment, including mastectomies.

After an independent review of the NHS programme for women aged 50 to 69, scientists concluded that the benefits of screening have been exaggerated and women are not warned of the potential harms from having regular checks.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1244333/Thousands-women-undergo-unnecessary-gruelling-breast-cancer-treatment.html#ixzz0dLtYv7eY

It is believed that women are not given the full facts about the risks of breast screening by mammogram, such as over-diagnosis leading to unnecessary biopsies and even mastectomy when ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is found.  DCIS is found in the cells lining the milk ducts and often does not spread.  Many women are given a mastectomy even though it is not known for sure whether the carcinoma is malignant and whether it will spread.  In fact, many women die with DCIS rather than of it.  I would also add the potential risks from the radation (a mammogram gives a much greater exposure than a normal X-ray) and a woman is exposed to this high level of radiation over the period of breast screening, from age 50-70 in this country.  You can read more about the whole issue of the safety of mammograms at the CANCERActive website http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=1420

As part of my campaign, Healthy Breasts For Every Woman, I still advocate that women should be checking their own breasts as most breast cancer cases are discovered by the woman or her partner.  This is particularly important for women under 50 who are not being called for mammograms and the younger you are the more aggressive any cancer is likely to be.

However, it would seem that more and more women are being diagnosed with DCIS and are having a mastectomy as a matter of course.  They are not being given the option of a lumpectomy or of monitoring the carcinoma to see if it spreads and becomes active.  In my work I recommend that women consider Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging as an alternative breast screening method.  DITI is pain-free, radiation-free and non-invasive.  It can identify abnormal cells by the level of heat showing in the breast tissue.  It could be a useful way for monitoring DCIS to see whether the cells change and/or spread within the breast.  The problem if a woman has a biopsy for DCIS is that the cells are then “open” and if there is malignancy, this is then “let out”.

Unfortunately, DITI is not available on the NHS in this country but the cost is certainly not prohibitive.  Take a look at this website for more details and a list of clinics offering the treatment (click on Locations) http://www.meditherm.com/.

As always, nothing is clear cut but at least if women are give the full facts, then they can make their own decision rather than being convinced that they need radical surgery when they may not have needed to.

Nikki Mattei