“Harms of breast cancer include overdiagnosis, overtreatment, false positive results, radiation exposure and radiation-associated breast cancer and breast cancer deaths as well as worry and distress from tests and procedures including breast biopsies,” the ACP said. The ACP guidelines come against the backdrop of growing pressure on women aged above 40 years, in many countries including India, to start annual breast screening with mammograms — diagnostic tests that expose breast tissues to X-rays. Many Indian gynaecologists recommend women aged above 50 years to undergo an annual mammogram, citing guidelines from the American Cancer Society (ACS) which says women aged between 45 and 54 should get mammograms every year. The ACS guidelines say women aged 40 to 44 should have the choice to start annual breast cancer screening if they wish to do so, while women aged 45 to 54 should get mammograms every year, and women 55 and older should switch to mammograms every two years or continue yearly screening. Sections of physicians suspect that the idea that early detection always benefits patients as well as commercial considerations have contributed to recommendations for routine annual mammograms.

Source: The Telegraph April 09, 2019 08:48 UTC