One in Three Women Need More Mammograms

Fueling the ongoing debate concerning the necessity of regular mammograms, new research has found evidence that indicates that three mammograms a year are not only helpful in detecting cancer in most women, but not frequent enough for approximately a third of all women -- who are at a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

The research, which was presented Friday at the 9th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC), sought to convince experts that identifying the level of risk of breast cancer for each individual patient can enable healthcare professionals to advise a personalized screening schedule, as opposed to the current blanketing recommendations for all women.

The study collected data on over 50,000 women between the ages of 47 and 73 participating in the United Kingdom's National Health Service Breast Screening Programme. Researchers measured the presence of certain important breast cancer risk factors for each participant based on a questionnaire each woman was asked to fill out. Saliva samples from each participant was also analyzed, testing for specific genetic indicators of increased risk of breast cancer.

According to the EBCC presentation, the study began in 2009 and estimated breast cancer risk factors of 53,467 women in total. Each of these participants were regularly screened for breast cancer via mammogram three times a year. After several years of observation, 634 women developed breast cancer.

Of the participants, 1,280 women were identified for having a high risk of developing breast cancer over the course of ten years. Interestingly, the advancement of the cancer when finally identified via mammogram increased proportionally with the risk of cancer among those women, with only 19 percent of the women with average to below-average risk showing cancers that had already spread to their lymph nodes, while more than 32 percent of women with above-average to high risk showed the same signs of an advancing cancer.

Professor Gareth Evans, from The University of Manchester and chief investigator for the study, presented these findings at the 9th EBCC.

"Our results suggest that three-yearly screening is very effective for around 70% of the female population, but that those women who have a higher than average risk of developing breast cancer probably require more frequent screening, particularly as more advanced cancers were detected in these women. Screening should be annual for the small proportion of women who have an eight percent or greater risk of developing cancer over the next ten years," she said.

As these findings have yet to be published in a scientific peer-reviewed journal, they should be viewed as preliminary findings until the time of the study's publication.

A summary of the presentation was published by the University of Manchester via HealthCanal on March 21.