BETHESDA, MARYLAND NCI-tU-Turn on mammograms - Cancer The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has once again breast approved test for women in their forties. The action brings NCI's recommendations in line with those of the American Cancer Society and other groups, but puts the body against external scientific group recently concluded that these tests save Lives.
At a press conference today, the National Advisory Council of Cancer (NCAB) announced its support for mammograms every 1 to 2 years for women aged 40 to 49 with a normal risk breast cancer. These X-ray tests could save lives per year 1500-00, says NCI Director Richard Klausner, although the board noted that a third of all diagnoses may be false alarms. Klausner welcomed the recommendation of the Board and said the policy would become effective immediately.
Although most experts agree that regular mammograms can reduce breast cancer deaths among women over 50, they have fiercely debated the value of universal screening for women in their forties . Clinicians who treat breast cancer patients are among the staunchest supporters of screening, while many epidemiologists find little statistical evidence for a benefit. In 1993, citing a lack of clear scientific evidence, NCI reversed its policy and decided not to recommend screening in this age group. In January, a panel of 14 members of epidemiologists side and reiterated this position after having evaluated seven randomized trials.
But the NCAB came to a different conclusion, deciding that mammograms every 1 to 2 years to reduce breast cancer mortality by about 17%. The advantage is "difficult to detect with a high degree of certainty," admitted President NCAB Barbara Rimer, a behavioral scientist at Duke University, but adds that universal screening is "scientifically defensible." The only dissenting voice on the board of 17 members was epidemiologist Kay Dickersin of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
The new policy does not apply to women in their forties with a high risk of breast cancer, those family history of the disease, certain genetic mutations, or who gave birth after age 30. These women said the council should consult a physician for the appropriate interval for testing. The board made its decision a month earlier than planned because of public controversy stirred by the position of the consensus group, Rimer said, but it did not influence the result. "We made our separate work all this "ACS officials applauded the new NCI policy and said it was in line with its recommendation for annual screening in this age group.
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