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January 28, 2014
News Release
Alicia Reale
Department of Marketing and
Communications
11100 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106
216 844 5158
[email protected]
Study Finds Mammography Beneficial for Younger Women
CLEVELAND – Researchers from University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center and Case
Western Reserve University School of Medicine have published new findings in the February issue
of American Journal of Roentgenology that mammography remains beneficial for women in their
40s. According to the study, women between ages 40 and 49 who underwent routine screening
mammography were diagnosed at earlier stages with smaller tumors and were less likely to require
chemotherapy.
In recent years, there have been contradictory guidelines related to the benefit of annual
mammograms for women in their 40s. The United States Preventive Services Task Force’s
guidelines from 2009 recommend against annual screening mammography for women in that age
group while the American Cancer Society, American College of Radiology and other professional
societies recommend annual exams beginning at age 40.
“Our findings clearly underscore the impact of neglecting to screen women with mammography for
women in their 40s,” says the study’s first author Donna Plecha, MD, Director of Breast Imaging at
UH Case Medical Center Seidman Cancer Center and Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve
School of Medicine. “Foregoing mammography for women in this age group leads to diagnoses of
later stage breast cancers. We continue to support screening mammography in women between the
ages of 40 and 49 years.”
In the study titled “Neglecting to Screen Women Between 40 and 49 Years Old With
Mammography: What is the Impact on Treatment Morbidity and Potential Risk Reduction?” the
authors compared two groups of women between 40 and 49 years old: women undergoing screening
mammography and women with a symptom needing diagnostic workup.
The researchers conducted a retrospective chart review of 230 primary breast cancers and found that
patients undergoing screening mammography had significant differences with respect to treatment
recommendations, stage at diagnosis and identification of high-risk lesions than symptomatic women
needing diagnostic evaluation. They determined that patients in the screened group were diagnosed at
earlier stages with smaller tumors and less likely to require chemotherapy and its associated
morbidities. They also found that screening allows detection of high-risk lesions, which may prompt
chemoprevention and lower subsequent breast cancer risk.
Breast cancer is a significant health problem and statistics indicate that one in eight women will
develop the disease in her lifetime. The stage at which the cancer is discovered influences a woman’s
chance of survival and annual mammography after the age of 40 enables physicians to identify the
smallest abnormalities. In fact, when breast cancer is detected early and confined to the breast, the
five-year survival rate is 97 percent.
“Annual screening mammograms starting at the age of 40 saves lives,” says Dr. Plecha. “Breast
cancers caught in the initial stages by mammography are more likely to be cured and are less likely
to require chemotherapy or as extensive surgery.”
Co-authors are: Nelly Salem, Mallory Kremer, Ramya M. Pham, Catherine Downs-Holmes, Abdus
Sattar, and Janice Lyons. A link to the study’s abstract is at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24450666##
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About University Hospitals
University Hospitals, the second largest employer in Northeast Ohio, serves the needs of patients through an integrated
network of hospitals, outpatient centers and primary care physicians in 16 counties. At the core of our health system is
University Hospitals Case Medical Center, one of only 18 hospitals in the country to have been named to U.S. News &
World Report’s most exclusive rankings list: the Best Hospitals 2013-14 Honor Roll. The primary affiliate of Case
Western Reserve University School of Medicine, UH Case Medical Center is home to some of the most prestigious
clinical and research centers of excellence in the nation and the world, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health,
orthopaedics and spine, radiology and radiation oncology, neurosurgery and neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular
surgery, organ transplantation and human genetics. Its main campus includes the internationally celebrated UH Rainbow
Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation; UH MacDonald Women's
Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and UH Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case
Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University. UH Case Medical Center is the 2012 recipient of the
American Hospital Association – McKesson Quest for Quality Prize for its leadership and innovation in quality
improvement and safety. For more information, go to www.uhhospitals.org