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American Cancer Society Stands By Cancer Screening Guidelines
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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >> The statement, from the society's chief medical officer, Dr. Otis Brawley, said that the organization "stands by its screening guidelines" and that "women are encouraged to continue getting mammograms."
The apparent confusion stems largely from popular media reports that, in turn, seemed to have been spurred by an opinion piece published in the Oct. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
A press release accompanying the JAMA article included quotes from Brawley, agreeing with the authors' conclusions.
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According to the JAMA authors, from the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, increased screening rates for breast and prostate cancers have resulted in more diagnoses but have not translated into correspondingly lower death rates, incurring "potential tumor over-detection and over-treatment," the researchers wrote. Although mortality from cancer in general has decreased, the authors conceded, it's unclear how much of this is because of more screening.
Why might increased screening not translate into saved lives, as the two experts contend? Probably because more aggressive tumors are still not found in time to save the patient, according to one specialist.
A major issue facing oncologists, especially for breast and prostate cancers, is being able to separate the very bad cancers from the less dangerous tumors.
"The problem is, we have a hard time at this point differentiating cancers that are going to hurt someone and cancers that are not going to hurt someone in their lifetimes," said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge, La. "I think screening for various cancers is extremely helpful, and I do believe they have made major public health inroads. What we're trying to do is to fine-tune the screening techniques."
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Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 10/21/2009
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SOURCES: Jay Brooks, M.D., chairman of hematology/oncology, Ochsner Health System, Baton Rouge, La.; Len Lichtenfeld, M.D., deputy chief medical officer, American Cancer Society, Atlanta; Kathryn Taylor, Ph.D., associate professor, Cancer Control Program, Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, D.C.; Oct. 21, 2009, news release, American Cancer Society; Oct. 21, 2009, The New York Times; Oct. 21, 2009, Journal of the American Medical Association
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