This October marks the 25th annual National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), a movement and organization dedicated to educating the public on this epidemic. To this end, a recent study undertaken by Cambridge Hospital Breast Center spear headed by Dr. Blake Cady of Harvard Medical School was released this month on the viability of regular screening as means for reducing breast cancer related deaths. By studying the correlation between screening frequency and fatality rates among a sample group of over 6,500 cases spanning a nine-year period, it was revealed that three quarters of breast cancer deaths occurred among women who do not have regular mammograms. Cady and his colleagues discovered that women who had at least two mammograms over a two year period had a 4.7% mortality rate versus a 56% for those who either infrequently or did not screen for breast cancer. Though screening has already been established as means to battle the disease, the extent of its success had not been accurately determined. Dr. Lori Pierce of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, confirms that these, “…results clearly support the finding of the trials, (and) that we must encourage our patients to undergo routine mammographic screening."
Beginning at the age of 40 it is suggested that women begin screening for breast cancer, yet many women choose not to get regular mammograms, which are key in detecting the disease in its early more curable stages. "Even among women in their 50s and 60s who are ideal candidates to be screened, there are many women who are not getting screened and really we should put lots of effort into trying to get them screened," explains Cady. It is hoped that these studies and the increasing public focus on breast cancer will persuade more women to take preventative measures and that the mortality rate will decrease.
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