Then there are data from an analysis of 763,256 mammography screenings done between 2007 and 2017 that found cancer in 3,944 women, 10 percent of whom were 75 and older. The study’s author, Dr. Stamatia Destounis, a radiologist at Elizabeth Wende Breast Care in Rochester, NY, reported that most of the cancers in older women were invasive and of a class that needed to be treated. About two-thirds had the potential to grow and grow rapidly.
Dr Destounis told Healthline, “There are benefits of screening annually after the age of 75. Mammography continues to detect invasive cancers in this population that are nodal negative and low stage, allowing these women to undergo less invasive treatment. The age to stop screening should be based on the health status of each woman and not defined by her age. “
At the same time, women are living longer and spending more of those added years productively and in reasonably good health. For her, said Dr. Nevertheless, finding early invasive cancers that can be treated with minimal surgery and postoperative therapy can mean a lot to the patients, their families and their communities.
Yet there is one fact that all older women need to know: According to Diana Miglioretti, a biostatistician at the University of California, Davis, “There is no evidence from randomized controlled trials to find or screen women 75. “Evidence suggests that the benefits of screening will not be seen until 10 years later.” She said there is also a risk of overdiagnosis increasing with age – finding a cancer which would not have harmed the woman in her life.
In an interview, Dr. Mara A. Schonberg, intern at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, the concerns of Drs. Miglioretti. “Overdetection in older women is a problem, and even finding breast cancer is not always good. It takes at least 10 years of screening 1,000 women aged 50 to 74 years to prevent one death from breast cancer, and probably even longer in women over 75, in whom breast cancer tends to be more indolent. It is not clear that all aggressive treatment is needed by older women. ”
Furthermore, among 1,000 women aged 75 to 84 who have had mammograms for five years, will receive 100 false alarms, create anxiety and apply many tests that do not detect cancer. With continuous mammography, within five years, three such elderly women in 1,000 will die of breast cancer, as against four women who do not have mammograms, reported Dr. Schonberg. She also found that among women ages 75 to 84 who die in the next five years, 12 times more likely to be diagnosed with heart disease than with breast cancer.
To help women decide whether to continue getting regular mammograms after the age of 75 is in their best interest, Dr. Schonberg and colleagues suggested a decision aid, available in English and Spanish.
