Lor mammography screening it is a tool offered free of charge to intercept the development of breast cancer in the bud. Available to women between 50 and 69 years old, screening is thus useful in reducing mortality associated with the disease. But extending it to younger age groups, between 40 and 49 years, further increases breast cancer survival. This is reiterated by a study recently published in JCO, the official magazine ofAmerican Society of Clinical Oncology.
What is mammography screening for?
The sooner we arrive at a certain diagnosis e larger it’s probability of cure. This is especially true for tumors. To diagnose them in time to be treated, an effective tool is represented by the oncological screeningsparticular tests offered free of charge by the National Health System aimed at intercept the disease in those age groups most at risk.
For breasts, in Italy, this occurs between the ages of 50 and 69. However, some regions, thanks to the increase in the incidence of breast tumors in the early stage, they offer the exam in the range between 45 and 74 years of age, thus widening the range of women who can have a mammogram.
I study
There is no shortage of studies regarding the usefulness of expanded screening, and it is no coincidence that in the month of May in the United States a panel of experts warmly invited extend screening also for the 40-49 age group. The latest in chronological order is the one published in the magazineAmerican Society of Clinical Oncology.
The analysis was carried out in Canada, a country in which mammography screening is offered to different age groups in different “provinces”. In some areas it is also provided between 40 and 49 years oldin others only from 50 and above.
The study compared the ten-year net survival, i.e. survival not attributable to causes other than breast cancer, both in the group subjected to screening and in the group to which it was not offered. The analyzes showed that in women subjected to screening, the net mortality was 1.9% lower compared to women aged 40 to 49 who were not screened. The greatest advantage, equal to 2.6%occurred in the age group 45-59 years.
Not just screening
An important result, the one obtained in the Canadian study, which once again supports the need for extend screening in the younger age groups. However, this does not mean that age is the only discriminating factor. The concept of mammography screening age-driven does not take into account the variability among women in the risk of developing breast cancer.
A more personalized approach screening could instead help to develop more or less “tight” screening programs based on individual risk. In this way, in women at high risk it would be possible to obtain better results in terms of mortality, in those at low risk a reduction in false positive diagnoses and subsequent investigations.
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