Let's face it. Mammograms are far from a perfect test, especially in women under the age of 50, and particularly in women with fibrocystic breasts. The United States Preventive Task Force no longer recommends screening women routinely for breast cancer with mammograms. There has been a flood of complaining from the American Cancer Society and the mammography industry that this is a mistake and that many lives are lost from breast cancer as a result.
A new study from Cornell Medical Center claims that of 14,500 screens in women under age 50 uncovered 21 invasive cancers. How many would be benefitted from this discovery is not discussed. Depending on the study, between one in 700 and one in 1800 women are benefitted from mammography in women under the age of 50.
The problem, of course, is how many people are being over-diagnosed and over-treated because of mammograms. This number is huge and must be at least in the range of 30-40% and at a cost of billions of dollars and of considerable morbidity and psychological trauma.
Adding breast thermography would be a major advance in screening women in this age group.
