One in Seven Women Receiving Mammogram 'Overdiagnosed' With Breast Cancer
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- A new study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine takes a fresh look at mammograms and breast cancer detection.
Scientists studied data from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium and found one in seven woman were actually "overdiagnosed" upon a breast cancer screening.
Previous research put the estimate at 30%
An overdiagnosis occurs when the detected cancer is actually slow-growing or poses no harm. That means some patients end up undergoing unnecessary and costly treatments and tests.
UCSF Breast Cancer Program Director Laura Esserman, who was not involved in the study, told KPIX that not all breast cancers should be treated aggressively, and not all are found with mammograms.
"About 60% of cancers are found with screening, but 40% of cancers are found by women themselves because they feel something. A super important point if you feel a mass. Just because you had a recent normal mammogram - don't ignore it. This is particularly true over the last couple of years in COVID. Don't ignore the symptom. But it's also important to know if you have a very small, low-grade screen detected cancer, it might be extremely low risk and there, we want the opportunity to safely do less," advised Dr. Esserman.
Dr. Esserman and her team at UCSF are currently studying the best way to screen for breast cancers in what's called the Wisdom Trial. Anyone who has had a mammogram can participate. More information on signing up is available on the UCSF website.
