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Locals reject new mammogram guidelines
Published November 20, 2009
Controversial new breast cancer screening recommendations issued by the United States Preventive Services Task Force are drawing criticism from doctors and health officials across the country — including Kerrville.
Jack Dempsey, director of radiology at Peterson Regional Medical Center, is one of those who disagrees with the new guidelines, which suggests that women should not begin routine mammograms until age 50 and should only get them every two years. This stands in sharp contrast to the long-time standard of yearly mammograms begining at 40.
“Personally, I disagree,” Dempsey said. “I know plenty of women who are diagnosed before age 50 because of those yearly mammograms.”
Dempsey still encourages women to follow the old guidelines and recommends that women with family history of breast cancer — the second leading cause of death in the United States — should begin screenings at 35.
Groups such as the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen For the Cure have opposed the new guidelines. On Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the new guidelines do not reflect federal policy and advised women to continue screening beginning at age 40.
The new recommendations stem from the high rates of false positives for women in their 40s. The task force said that for every 1,000 women screened in their 40s, two will have cancer, and 98 will have false positive. A false positive is when the mammogram picks up something that looks like cancer but that further testing shows actually is not.
“I understand where the task force is coming from in that there is a concern of overexposing women to radiation,” Dempsey said. “But they fail to take into account how much better the technology has gotten within the last 10 years.”
Dempsey said the two digital mammogram machines at Peterson Regional Medical Center have eliminated the need for repeat films, because the image is more clear and complete the first time and doesn’t require multiple exposures to radiation. The machines, however, still create false positives.
“False positives are always going to exist,” Dempsey said. “All breast and breast tissue are different. There are parts of the breasts’ anatomy that can mimic cancer tissue.”
Dempsey said false positives usually lead to biopsy testing, most likely with an ultrasound. Rarely do women have to undergo surgery for a biopsy. And, he said, the inconvenience of further testing for false positives is outweighed by the lives saved with early screening.
Many local women share Dempsey’s opinion.
“I began screening when I was 40, and I had a false reading a few years ago,” said Cindy Paige, 48, of Kerrville. “I had to go in for a few more tests, and it turned out not to be cancer, thank God, but I’d hate to think what if it had been cancer and I’d missed it.”
Breast cancer screening appointments are available at the Ambulatory Care Center at Peterson Regional Medical Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Tuesdays, screenings are available through 7 p.m.
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