October - Breast Health Awareness Month - Week 1

Perhaps you saw or heard reports last month quoting a new breast cancer study published in the journal Cancer. The authors found that more than 70% of deaths from breast cancer in a group of more than 7,000 women occurred in individuals who did not receive regular screening mammograms.

The findings support what I have maintained since starting The Rose with Dr. Dixie Melillo back in 1986 -- breast screening saves lives.

The significance of the new study by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and other Boston institutions is that it stands in sharp contrast to the controversial 2009 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) proposal to limit screening to women ages 50 to 74 years. Screening women earlier, the task force said, doesn’t save enough lives to justify the expense, worry and procedures that women go through when they get a false-positive result -- a suspicious-looking mammogram that turns out not to be cancer.

The American Cancer Society and the American College of Radiology and scores of other organizations including The Rose challenged the task force suggestions in 2009 and still maintain annual screenings for women 40 and older are recommended. This most recent study adds additional weight to our arguments.

Surgical oncologist Dr. Blake Cady and his colleagues found that among 609 confirmed breast cancer deaths, 29% were among women who had been screened with mammography, while 71% were among women who were not screened regularly. Also, the women who died of breast cancer were younger. Of all breast cancer deaths, only 13% occurred in women age 70 or older, but 50% occurred in women younger than 50.

While the numbers are critical – to ensure that plenty of data exists to pass needed legislation like the 2010 requirement that insurers pay for mammograms without charging patients any copays – what I can’t get away from are the faces. At The Rose, we don’t deal in statistics alone, we see the mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends who have often delayed a mammogram because of a lack of money or time or because they put their families’ needs before their own.

When we started The Rose, we committed to provide breast health care to any woman who came to us – regardless of income, age or any other barrier. I wish I could say that in almost 30 years we have seen radical changes. In truth, I can’t. Women still delay. So I’m thankful for every new piece of evidence that underscores the reality – screenings save lives.

-- Dorothy Gibbons, CEO & Co-Founder of The Rose