IV
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 40
Expressing the sense of the House concerning the need for accurate guidelines
for breast cancer screening for women between the ages of 40 and 49.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 5, 1997
Mr. TOWNS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Commerce
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House concerning the need for
accurate guidelines for breast cancer screening for
women between the ages of 40 and 49.
Whereas the National Cancer Institute is the lead Federal
agency for research on the causes, prevention, diagnosis,
and treatment of cancer;
Whereas health professionals and consumers throughout the
United States regard the guidelines of the National Can-
cer Institute as reliable scientific and medical advice;
Whereas it has been proven that intervention through routine
screening for breast cancer through mammography can
save the lives of women at a time when medical science
is unable to prevent this disease;
HRES 40 IH
Whereas the National Cancer Institute issued a guideline in
1989 recommending that women in their forties seek
mammograms, but rescinded this guideline in 1993;
Whereas in 1993, it was difficult to have the same degree of
scientific confidence about the benefit of mammography
for women between the ages of 40 and 49 as existed for
women between the ages of 50 and 69 due to inherent
limitations in the studies that were conducted as of that
date;
Whereas at that time, the American Cancer Society and 21
other national medical organizations and health and
consumer groups were at variance with the decision of
the National Cancer Institute to rescind the guidelines of
the Institute for mammography for women between the
ages of 40 and 49;
Whereas the statement of scientific fact on breast cancer
screening issued by the National Cancer Institute on De-
cember 3, 1993, caused widespread confusion and con-
cern among women and physicians, eroded confidence in
mammography, and reinforced barriers and negative atti-
tudes that keep women of all ages from being screened;
Whereas in 1995, investigators found a 24 percent lower
death rate among women who received mammograms in
their forties when the world’s population-based trials
were combined;
Whereas in 1996, Swedish researchers in 2 studies found a
44 and 36 percent lower death rate among women who
received mammograms in their forties;
Whereas a number of studies have shown that breast tumors
in women under the age of 50 may grow far more rapidly
HRES 40 IH
than in older women, suggesting that annual mammo-
grams are of value to women in this age group;
Whereas a disproportionate number of African-American
women are affected by this life-threatening disease, and
have a 25 percent higher mortality rate than other
women because breast cancer is not detected early
enough;
Whereas on January 23, 1997, a panel convened by the Na-
tional Institutes of Health reviewed these and other com-
pelling studies but decided not to recommend that the
National Cancer Institute reissue its earlier guidelines;
Whereas the Director of the National Cancer Institute and
other major national organizations, including the Amer-
ican Cancer Society, expressed surprise and disappoint-
ment with this decision;
Whereas the majority (approximately 80 percent) of women
who are diagnosed with breast cancer have no identifiable
risk for this disease;
Whereas breast cancer is the single leading cause of death for
women in their forties and fifties, and a leading cause of
death for women between the ages of 30 and 60; and
Whereas more women will be diagnosed with breast cancer
this year in their forties (over 33,000 women) than in
their fifties: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House that—
(1) adequately designed and conducted studies
are needed to further determine the benefits of
screening women between the ages of 40 and 49