Tipping the Balance of Benefits and Harms to Favor Screening Mammography Starting at Age 40 Years
Authors: Lindsey C. Wu, Barry I. Grabaud, Mitchell H. Gail
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2012)

Letters16 October 2012Tipping the Balance of Benefits and Harms to Favor Screening Mammography Starting at Age 40 YearsLindsey C. Wu, BA, Barry I. Grabaud, PhD, and Mitchell H. Gail, MD, PhDLindsey C. Wu, BAFrom National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814.Search for more papers by this author, Barry I. Grabaud, PhDFrom National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814.Search for more papers by this author, and Mitchell H. Gail, MD, PhDFrom National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-157-8-201210160-00019 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Mammographic screening guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (1) target age groups because “increasing age is the most important risk factor for breast cancer for most women,” but other factors influence breast cancer risk. van Ravesteyn and colleagues (2) found that women aged 40 to 49 years with a 2-fold increased risk had similar harm–benefit ratios as women aged 50 to 74 years. Here, we estimate the number of U.S. women in their 40s who have harm–benefit ratios similar to those of a 50-year-old woman without risk factors, for whom mammography is recommended.Mammographic screening ...References1. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for breast cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. Ann Intern Med. 2009;151:716-26, W-236. [PMID: 19920272] MedlineGoogle Scholar2. van Ravesteyn NT, Miglioretti DL, Stout NK, Lee SJ, Schechter CB, Buist DS, et al. Tipping the balance of benefits and harms to favor screening mammography starting at age 40 years: a comparative modeling study of risk. Ann Intern Med. 2012;156:609-17. [PMID: 22547470] LinkGoogle Scholar3. Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. Performance measures for 1,960,150 screening mammography examinations from 2002 to 2006 by age—based on BCSC data as of 2009. Accessed at http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/data/performance/screening/2009/perf_age.html on 3 November 2011. Google Scholar4. Gail MH. Value of adding single-nucleotide polymorphism genotypes to a breast cancer risk model. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2009;101:959-63. [PMID: 19535781] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoScreening for Breast Cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation StatementTipping the Balance of Benefits and Harms to Favor Screening Mammography Starting at Age 40 Years Nicolien T. van Ravesteyn , Diana L. Miglioretti , Natasha K. Stout , Sandra J. Lee , Clyde B. Schechter , Diana S.M. Buist , Hui Huang , Eveline A.M. Heijnsdijk , Amy Trentham-Dietz , Oguzhan Alagoz , Aimee M. Near , Karla Kerlikowske , Heidi D. Nelson , Jeanne S. Mandelblatt , and Harry J. de Koning Tipping the Balance of Benefits and Harms to Favor Screening Mammography Starting at Age 40 Years Nicolien T. van Ravesteyn , Diana L. Miglioretti , and Jeanne S. Mandleblatt Metrics Cited ByBreast Cancer Risk Model Requirements for Counseling, Prevention, and ScreeningTwenty-five Years of Breast Cancer Risk Models and Their ApplicationsMammography Screening for Breast Cancer 16 October 2012Volume 157, Issue 8Page: 597KeywordsAge groupsBreast cancerHealth surveysMammographyMedical risk factorsMenarcheScreening guidelinesSpecificity ePublished: 16 October 2012 Issue Published: 16 October 2012 CopyrightCopyright © 2012 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...