American Cancer Society Disputes Danish Study

American Cancer Society
Friday, 1 June 2001

In a statement issued today, the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, Harmon J. Eyre, M.D., said the Society is in complete disagreement with conclusions of a study published in this week's Lancet medical journal.

A meta-analysis of mammography screening trials was conducted by Danish researchers and published in Lancet's January 8th issue. The authors conclude that mammography screening for breast cancer is not justifiable. They claim that the major screening trials primarily held in Europe, had inadequate randomization of the subjects and this compromised the usefulness of the data.

According to Dr. Eyre, in the early l980s when only 13% of American women were getting mammograms, the average size of breast cancer tumors was about 3cm. By the late l990s, 60% of women in the US were having regular mammography and the average size of tumors had decreased to 2cm.

Dr. Eyre notes that the stage of disease at diagnosis has shifted dramatically in the '90s so that in most new cases today, the cancer has not spread to the adjacent underarm lymph nodes.

"Most significantly,"" says Dr. Eyre, ""the death rate from breast cancer in the United States has been falling steadily for the past 10 years due in great part to mammography.""

"Evidence in the United States where mammography has been done for a longer period of time than in Europe and where women are generally screened at shorter intervals using better quality equipment, shows vastly improved diagnosis and prognosis,"" adds Dr. Eyre.

The ACS recommends that women 40 and older have an annual mammogram, annual clinical breast examination (CBE) by a health care professional, and should perform monthly breast self-examination.

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy and service.

For more information, or to contact American Cancer Society, see their website at: www.cancer.org