Cancer Confusion

" On -- on the latest journal of the American Medical Association is calling into question everything we've been taught about mammograms who should get them and win. Doctor Jennifer -- as the clinical. Instructor of surgery specializing in breast surgery at New York's slang going medical center she's here to tell us what this all means doctor walker thanks so much for being here. -- New York Times ran an article last week it's it's changed everything that we have been taught. About going to get mammograms that generally as you know they start when your 48 for us to get them every single year until the end of your life we've always been told right but here's the bombshell. That is according to doctor Laura estimates breast surgeon at the University of California let me. Three for every one what this says if the new article written over seven 75 can stop being screened. Because no studies have shown that it helps them evidence was also laughing for a better fit in screening women for forty years old to fifty. In less they have a strong family history of breast cancer or mutation in the gene called BR CA which greatly increases the risk we don't have to get them until after fifty now."

" Well these researches have have raised the debate that the incidents of breast extras on up with early screening -- mammograms. That the incidents of late stage cancers has not declined. It's an American Cancer Society comes out and then says we've overstated the benefits of screening tomography. And people are being over diagnosed never treated in your missing some deadly cancers so doctors estimate is basically saying. That this test needs to be perfected so that we can pick up more than is deadly cancers. And not ever treat women. Now people that are older than seventy generally have slow -- tumors that are gonna be the cause of their debt so she's saying maybe not every year for those ladies in people that are under. -- fifty. Are getting over treated a lot of biopsies and they aren't gonna have the rate of breast cancer that people in that age -- fifty to seventy have. Where we know there's a real benefit to screening -- okay so are you saying for everyone looking out there right now who is under fifty years old they can stop getting the annual mammogram -- and I wouldn't say that right now my mom's life was saved by screening mammogram -- one year to the next how old question she was and she is in her late sixties says she -- that group that basically while we're perfecting this training program. And looking for from more sophisticated ways to define tumor biology like what's -- is gonna be aggressive and what's going to be slow which we don't know right now so we have to treat. Breast cancer when we find it. Well in that case we need to continue to do demography as the American Cancer Society is recommended. Because if you do it lowers your chances of dying of breast cancer by 24%. Breast cancer. Basically can kill people and screening tomography states over a thousand lives every year. I'm really exposing women who are forty to fifty who may not be served but to too much radiation right now they're pretty shouldn't. Is a small factor but a lot of it is ever treating and doing more surgery and more biopsies that is needed in this age group. In the psychological angst of getting followed in three. Never -- every six months -- every one year what you get a certain classification on your mammogram. And that's -- we can become more sophisticated. With with -- screening program. -- south with what you're telling women who are listening right now we need to end of this is that don't change anything yet -- Keep an ear to the ground for the changes and talk to your doctor exactly in an entirely your -- risk. Are you postmenopausal and taking -- have you had children late in life. Give it family history of breast feature Andy had dense breasts and those factors should only be analyzed between an individual and her treating physicians aren't talking Jennifer walker thanks for coming into us."