On Nov. 29, CNN published an article regarding the cut off age for women to receive mammograms in the United States. The article questioned the validity of the cut-off age in place for patients who receive mammograms. Currently, doctors debate whether regular mammogram screenings are beneficial or harmful for women over age 75. Though the risk of contracting breast cancer increases with age, all women risk false positive results during screenings, so medical professionals in the United States use discretion when recommending the procedure to women in this age group. This age cutoff is fairly standard around the world. However, studies in recent years have illustrated the benefits of regular mammograms for women of all ages, so doctors should generally endorse the procedure to any woman over the age of 40.
Dr. Cindy Lee, an assistant professor at the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine, recently co-authored a new study on the effectiveness of mammograms for women over 75. Lee studied the results of almost 7 million mammograms over a seven-year period and said, “The benefit continues with increasing age up until 90,” noting that women over 70 should continue to receive regular mammograms. Based on Lee’s study, there is no reason for doctors not to recommend mammograms to women over 40. Risk of breast cancer increases with age, and Lee’s study shows continued testing is not only necessary but beneficial with age. Lee’s study also found that mammogram screenings perform increasingly well as women age, so the risk of a false positive for women over 75 is reduced.
The adjustment of a maximum recommended age for mammograms would benefit doctors as well as patients. For medical professionals, the continued use of mammography screenings for women over 75 gives the opportunity for better utilization of preventative medicine. Early stage breast cancer is much easier and less expensive to treat than the disease is once it spreads. The test can also benefit patients financially. A yearly mammogram is covered by most standard health insurance policies and, for uninsured women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coordinate an early detection program where women without insurance can get the test for little to no expense. On the other hand, by skipping the test and missing the early detection of the disease, women can risk years of high healthcare costs to treat cancer, even if they have a good health insurance policy.
In the past, the chief reason that women over 75 were recommended against regular mammograms was the risk of a false positive result, but the health benefits outweigh the risk of incorrect results. The American Cancer Society recommends that women continue to get mammograms at least every other year after they turn 55 until the point when they are estimated to have less than 10 years to live. The overall consensus between recent medical studies and America’s foremost organization to treat, research and eradicate cancer shows that doctoral consensus should change. Women should be given the best chance of detecting and beating breast cancer, and that requires a doctor's recommendation that mammograms continue with age. The benefits of the procedure greatly outweigh the possible costs, both medically and financially, so there is no reason not to recommend the testing for women over 75 years of age.
Carly Mulvihill is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at c.mulvihill@cavalierdaily.com.
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