Cancerworld Magazine
  • About the Magazine
    • About us
    • Editorial Team
    • Events
    • Archive
    • Contacts
  • Articles
    • Policy
    • Practice Points
    • Delivery of Care
    • Biology basic
    • Medicine
    • Featured
  • Contents
    • News
    • Editorials
    • Interviews to the Expert
    • In the Hot Seat
    • Profiles
    • Obituaries
    • Voices
  • ESO College Corner
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Cancerworld Magazine
Cancerworld Magazine
  • About the Magazine
    • About us
    • Editorial Team
    • Events
    • Archive
    • Contacts
  • Articles
    • Policy
    • Practice Points
    • Delivery of Care
    • Biology basic
    • Medicine
    • Featured
  • Contents
    • News
    • Editorials
    • Interviews to the Expert
    • In the Hot Seat
    • Profiles
    • Obituaries
    • Voices
  • ESO College Corner
Cancerworld Magazine > News > Regular mammography offers best insurance against dying from breast cancer
  • News

Regular mammography offers best insurance against dying from breast cancer

  • 15 December 2023
  • Janet Fricker
Regular mammography offers best insurance against dying from breast cancer
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0
0

Women who regularly attend breast screening mammography have a reduced risk of breast cancer mortality. The Swedish study, Abstract R1-SSBR10, presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), held in Chicago, Illinois, 26–30 November, found that women with breast cancer who attended all previous mammogram invitations were three times less likely to die from breast cancer compared to women with breast cancer who had attended no mammography examinations.

“These findings show that, as much as possible, adherence to regular mammography is the very best insurance a woman has against being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer that could be life-threatening,” says Robert Smith, an author on the study and presenter at the RSNA meeting. “And each additional examination attended among the five previous examinations conferred an additional protective effect against dying from breast cancer.”

Skipping just one scheduled mammogram could result in a more advanced breast cancer diagnosis that significantly impacts on a woman’s chance of survival. Women fail to attend regular mammography for a variety of reasons including lack of health insurance, not receiving regular screening reminders, losing track of the timing of their last mammogram, and not understanding the importance of screening. “For all women, the routines of daily life can get in the way… care for children or family members, job obligations etcetera. If they don’t reschedule then time can go by,” Smith, who is also Director of the American Cancer Society Center for Cancer Screening, tells Cancerworld.

In an earlier study, Smith and colleagues showed that participation in two successive scheduled screening mammograms conferred a greater reduction in the risk of breast cancer mortality than participation in only one. “In this new study, we considered the possibility that continuity over more than two consecutive exams might be associated with even greater protection from a preventable death from breast cancer,” explains Smith.

For the study, Smith and colleagues analysed the screening mammogram history of 37,079 patients from nine Swedish counties, who were diagnosed with breast cancer, and who visited oncology centres across Sweden between 1992 and 2016. Using data from the Swedish Cause of Death Register, the investigators identified 4,564 breast cancer deaths among people involved in the study. They went on to track the patients’ participation in up to five of their most recent invitations for breast cancer mammograms prior to their cancer diagnosis. “The study was undertaken in Sweden because the country has extraordinary longitudinal complete data on the population’s health care utilisation,” says Smith, adding that the results are relevant to all countries.

Depending on the number of screening invitations, 58% to 73% of patients participated in all scheduled screening exams, and 73% to 96% participated in at least one scheduled screening exam.

Results showed that women who attended all five screening mammograms had a survivability rate ranging from 82.7% to 86.9%, while women who did not participate in any screenings had a survival rate that ranged from 59.1% to 77.6%. The team reported a risk reduction of 72% (HR=0.28; 95%CI 0.25–0.33) for women who attended all five screenings compared to women who attended none. After adjustment for potential self-selection factors there was still a 66% risk reduction for women who attended all five screenings (HR=0.34; 95%CI 0.26–0.43).

“Our findings are a reminder that imaging facilities should prioritise getting a woman who missed her examination back on the schedule as soon as possible,” says Smith. “The screening intervals are set to ensure the greatest possibility to detect breast cancer early.”

More emphasis, he adds, needs to be placed on educating women about the importance of adhering to screening intervals. “A quick evaluation of on-line educational materials reveals a great deal of information about the importance of mammography, what to expect from mammography, but few sites stress the importance of undergoing regular mammography.”

In Europe, while mammography screening invitations usually start at the age of 50 and end at the age of 70, intervals vary, being every 24 months in most countries but only every 36 months in the UK and Malta.

The latest results also provide ammunition against screening sceptics who have suggested that improvements in treatment over time have made mammography obsolete. “The data are clear: women who attend regular mammography screening and are diagnosed with breast cancer benefit much more from the advances in therapy than women who do not attend screening,” says Smith.

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • breast cancer
  • breast cancer mortality
  • breast screening
  • cumulative survival benefit
  • mammography
Janet Fricker

Janet Fricker is a medical writer specialising in oncology and cardiology. After researching articles for Cancerworld she runs, swims, and eats porridge.

Previous Article
  • News

Potential new target to prevent pancreatic cancer from spreading to liver

  • 1 December 2023
  • Janet Fricker
View Post
Next Article
  • News

A European roadmap to improve men’s cancer outcomes

  • 15 December 2023
  • Janet Fricker
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Articles
  • News

Strategies Needed to Prioritise Screening in Survivors of Childhood Cancer

  • Janet Fricker
  • 4 June 2025
View Post
  • Articles
  • News

CancerWorld #104 (June 2025)

  • Yeva Margaryan
  • 2 June 2025
View Post
  • Articles
  • Medicine
  • News

Common Diabetes Medication Could Protect Heart Health During Cancer Treatment

  • Janet Fricker
  • 30 May 2025
View Post
  • Articles
  • News

CancerWorld issue #103 (May, 2025)

  • Yeva Margaryan
  • 11 May 2025
View Post
  • News

Personalised neoantigen vaccine for kidney cancer shows promise in phase 1 study

  • Janet Fricker
  • 8 May 2025
View Post
  • News
  • Senza categoria

What Caught Our Eye in April: Oncology’s Top Moments

  • Janet Fricker
  • 7 May 2025
View Post
  • News

CancerWorld #102 (April 2025)

  • Yeva Margaryan
  • 22 April 2025
View Post
  • News
  • Senza categoria

What Caught Our Eye in March: Oncology’s Top Moments

  • Janet Fricker
  • 8 April 2025
1 comment
  1. MANGESH THORAT says:
    15 December 2023 at 17:22

    Breast cancer survival is a WRONG endpoint in assessing this. The endpoint should always be “Breast Cancer Mortality” when comparing two groups like this – What was the difference in breast cancer and all-cause mortality between the two groups?

Comments are closed.

search
CancerWorld #101 Download CancerWorld #101 Download CancerWorld #101 Download CancerWorld #101 Download or search in Cancerworld archive
Newsletter

Subscribe free to
Cancerworld!

We'll keep you informed of the latest features and news with a fortnightly email

Subscribe now
Latest News
  • Strategies Needed to Prioritise Screening in Survivors of Childhood Cancer
    • 4 June 2025
  • CancerWorld #104 (June 2025)
    • 2 June 2025
  • Common Diabetes Medication Could Protect Heart Health During Cancer Treatment
    • 30 May 2025
  • CancerWorld issue #103 (May, 2025)
    • 11 May 2025
  • Personalised neoantigen vaccine for kidney cancer shows promise in phase 1 study
    • 8 May 2025
Article
  • Is It Biology or Geography That Decides Who Survives Childhood Cancer?
    • 5 June 2025
  • Strategies Needed to Prioritise Screening in Survivors of Childhood Cancer
    • 4 June 2025
  • Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: What Africa’s First Lady of Cancer Will Bring to the Top Global Advocacy Role
    • 4 June 2025
Social

Would you follow us ?

Contents
  • Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: What Africa’s First Lady of Cancer Will Bring to the Top Global Advocacy Role
    • 4 June 2025
  • Princess Adila: Her Royal Highness, Her Human Mission
    • 1 June 2025
  • Back on Screen: The Return of Smoking in Films and Its Public Health Implications
    • 31 May 2025
MENU
  • About the Magazine
    • About us
    • Editorial Team
    • Events
    • Archive
    • Contacts
  • Articles
    • Policy
    • Practice Points
    • Delivery of Care
    • Biology basic
    • Medicine
    • Featured
  • Contents
    • News
    • Editorials
    • Interviews to the Expert
    • In the Hot Seat
    • Profiles
    • Obituaries
    • Voices
  • ESO College Corner
Cancerworld Magazine
  • About us
  • Articles
  • Media Corner
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

Cancerworld is published by OncoDaily (P53 Inc.) | Mailing Address: 867 Boylston st, 5th floor, Ste 1094 Boston, MA 02116, United States | [email protected]

Archivio Cancerworld

Input your search keywords and press Enter.