Continuation of Annual Screening Mammography and Breast Cancer Mortality in Women Older Than 70 Years
Authors: Debbie L. Bennett, Catherine M. Appleton, Michelle V. Lee
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2020)

Letters4 August 2020Continuation of Annual Screening Mammography and Breast Cancer Mortality in Women Older Than 70 YearsDebbie L. Bennett, MD, Catherine M. Appleton, MD, and Michelle V. Lee, MDDebbie L. Bennett, MDSaint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri (D.L.B.)Search for more papers by this author, Catherine M. Appleton, MDProSight Radiology, St. Luke's Hospital, Chesterfield, Missouri (C.M.A.)Search for more papers by this author, and Michelle V. Lee, MDMedical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia (M.V.L.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L20-0826 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:García-Albéniz and colleagues' article (1) provides compelling evidence for the continuation of screening mammography in older women. Data from their study show a significant reduction in the need for aggressive treatment for those diagnosed with breast cancer in the “continue screening” group compared with those diagnosed in the “stop screening” group.As Brawley's accompanying editorial (2) notes, “Screening for any disease and especially for breast cancer is a balance of benefits and risks.” Most older women will survive a breast cancer diagnosis, with a 5-year survival rate of more than 74% for women older than 80 years ...References1. García-Albéniz X, Hernán MA, Logan RW, et al. Continuation of annual screening mammography and breast cancer mortality in women older than 70 years. Ann Intern Med. 2020;172:381-389. [PMID: 32092767]. doi:10.7326/M18-1199 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Brawley OW. On mammography screening for women older than 70 years. Ann Intern Med. 2020;172:427-428. [PMID: 32092765]. doi:10.7326/M20-0429 LinkGoogle Scholar3. Agborbesong O, Helmer SD, Reyes J, et al. Breast cancer treatment in the elderly: do treatment plans that do not conform to NCCN recommendations lead to worse outcomes? Am J Surg. 2019. [PMID: 31866003] doi:10.1016/j.amjsurg.2019.12.007 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Vyas A, Madhavan S, Sambamoorthi U. Association between persistence with mammography screening and stage at diagnosis among elderly women diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2014;148:645-654. [PMID: 25399230] doi:10.1007/s10549-014-3204-3 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Badgwell BD, Giordano SH, Duan ZZ, et al. Mammography before diagnosis among women age 80 years and older with breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2008;26:2482-2488. [PMID: 18427152] doi:10.1200/JCO.2007.12.8058 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri (D.L.B.)ProSight Radiology, St. Luke's Hospital, Chesterfield, Missouri (C.M.A.)Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia (M.V.L.)Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L20-0826. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoContinuation of Annual Screening Mammography and Breast Cancer Mortality in Women Older Than 70 Years Xabier García-Albéniz , Miguel A. Hernán , Roger W. Logan , Mary Price , Katrina Armstrong , and John Hsu Continuation of Annual Screening Mammography and Breast Cancer Mortality in Women Older Than 70 Years Dipti Gupta , David Schacht , and Pragya A. Dang Continuation of Annual Screening Mammography and Breast Cancer Mortality in Women Older Than 70 Years Xabier García-Albéniz , Miguel A. Hernán , and John Hsu Metrics 4 August 2020Volume 173, Issue 3Page: 245-246KeywordsAge groupsBreast cancerCancer treatmentChemotherapyDisclosureForecastingHealth information technologyLumpectomyMammographyMortality ePublished: 4 August 2020 Issue Published: 4 August 2020 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2020 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...