Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — Seeking to put to rest a growing controversy over the value of mammograms, U.S. health officials recommended Thursday that women 40 and older be screened for breast cancer every year or two.
"Our bottom line is that mammography reduces deaths from breast cancer," Janet Allan, vice chairwoman of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, said at a news conference. The task force — an independent panel of medical experts — advises the Department of Health and Human Services on the effectiveness of clinical procedures.
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson called the results a "powerful message" to American women.
The report follows the publication of European studies concluding that there was no clinical proof the sometimes-painful exams have any benefit in preventing deaths from cancer. Each year about 190,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer; more than 40,000 die.
Doubts raised by researchers in Denmark, since echoed by some advisers to the National Cancer Institute, have led to widespread confusion about the procedure — confusion that U.S. health officials say is unwarranted.
Thursday’s recommendation marks the second time in a month that women have been urged to continue getting the X-ray pictures of their breasts. About 30 million mammograms were administered in the United States last year. A study published Feb. 2 in the Lancet, a prestigious medical journal, reinforced the value of the screening.
The task force has twice before spoken out on the value of mammography, which involves flattening the breast as much as possible between two metal plates and taking X-rays from two angles.
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