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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: mammogram

mammogram stories: 19 news summaries
OPINION

Mammogram Backdown
Hurts Health Reform

Sebelius played politics, missed chance to show leadership

Nov 20, 09 1:50 AM CST
(Newser) - Health secretary Kathleen Sebelius has set back the cause of health care reform in her rush to distance herself from the recommendation of her own department's task force concerning mammograms, writes Steven Pearlstein. The advice that women under 50 shouldn't get annual mammograms was based on science, and Sebelius should... More »

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health care • breast cancer • mammogram • health care reform • Kathleen Sebelius

Gail Collins

Welcome to
the Conspiracy
to Ration Mammograms

Don't you dare deny us unnecessary tests!

Nov 19, 09 9:28 AM CST
(Newser) - Republicans are right: the new government guidelines urging women not to have mammograms in their 40s are definitely a nefarious conspiracy to start rationing care. “Whatever happens, we do not want the government conducting any studies on whether current health practices actually do any good,” writes Gail Collins... More »

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breast cancer • preventative medicine • rationing • mammogram • Gail Collins • U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

New Mammogram Advice
Not US Policy: Sebelius

'These recommendations are not ours,' HHS Secretary asserts

Nov 18, 09 5:22 PM CST
(Newser) - The recommendation from the US Preventative Services Task Force that women in their 40s should not get mammograms is not government policy, said the secretary of Health and Human Services. Kathleen Sebelius tried to tamp down some of the controversy that has followed the panel’s decision, asserting that government... More »

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breast cancer • Health and Human Services • preventative medicine • mammogram • Kathleen Sebelius

Doctors Blast New Mammogram Guidelines

Cancer societies, gynecologists won't follow government's lead

Nov 17, 09 7:46 AM CST
(Newser) - There was an instant backlash from oncologists and gynecologists yesterday after a government panel recommended that that women in their 40s stop getting annual mammograms. “I think it is unfortunate that they came to this conclusion,” the director of imaging at one breast cancer center told the More »

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breast cancer • American Cancer Society • gynecology • oncology • mammogram • cancer screening • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists • U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

 Govt. Panel 
 Recommends 
 Fewer Mammograms 

Breast cancer screenings should start at 50, not 40: task force

Nov 16, 09 5:12 PM CST
(Newser) - Most women can wait to get their first mammogram at 50 and then should get one every 2 years rather than annually, a powerful health policy group said today. New information led to the recommendations, said a member of the influential task force that reversed a 7-year-old edict urging aggressive... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cancer • breast cancer • chemotherapy • mastectomy • mammogram • cancer screening

Cancer Experts Worried About Screening

American Cancer Society to warn of risks as well as benefits

Oct 21, 09 1:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - The American Cancer Society is rethinking its advice on screening for breast and prostate cancer amid studies showing that the tests can miss the deadliest forms of the disease, and in some cases lead to dangerous, unnecessary treatment. The society is working on a new message stressing that cancer screening... More »

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cancer • breast cancer • prostate cancer • American Cancer Society • mammogram • cancer screening • women's issues

Breast Cancer Death in Blacks Linked to Genes

Advocates now worry environmental, social factors will be ignored

Jul 27, 09 2:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - The higher risk of death from breast cancer for black women may depend more on differences of biology than environmental factors, the Baltimore Sun reports. Research shows that black women are up to 49% more likely to die from the disease than white women, even when patients receive the same... More »

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breast cancer • doctor • mammogram • black women • white women • scientific research • medical study • preventative care

Mammograms May Lead to Overtreatment: Study

But screening can't determine danger; many treated unnecessarily

Jul 10, 09 10:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - One-third of breast cancers that show up on mammograms may be essentially harmless, meaning that treating every tumor causes unnecessary trauma, a five-nation study suggests. A mammogram doesn't reveal whether a cancer is lethal or harmless, so all get treated when some could be merely monitored, the BBC reports. The... More »

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cancer • breast cancer • cancer treatment • mammogram • cancer screening • British Medical Journal

 Breast Cancer 
 May Vanish 
 Without Chemo 

Fewer cancers found in women screened less often

Nov 25, 08 4:40 AM CST
(Newser) - Breast cancer goes into spontaneous remission far more often than had been believed, a new study has discovered. Researchers found that a fifth more cancers were found in women screened every two years than in a group screened once in six years, leading them to conclude that many cancers may... More »

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cancer • breast cancer • chemotherapy • mammogram • cancer screening • cancer prevention

As Mammograms Go Digital, Docs Call More Women Back

Imaging changes prompt cancer concerns as experts learn the ropes

Apr 10, 08 9:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - As more radiologists switch from film to digital mammogram imaging, they must learn new interpretation techniques—and that means more healthy women face a dreaded recall for further testing, the New York Times reports. During the changeover, “there’s an increase in the rate of things you think are... More »

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technology • breast cancer • health screenings • mammogram • digital imaging

Women at Risk After Hormone Therapy: Study

Breast cancer risk continues, but other health threats diminish

Mar 5, 08 11:14 AM CST
(Newser) - Breast cancer remains a risk for women even after they stop taking hormone therapy, researchers said yesterday. A follow-up to a 2002 study showed that women who dropped estrogen and progestin still had a 24% greater breast cancer risk. But their chance of a stroke, heart attack, or blood clot... More »

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breast cancer • women's health • hormone replacement therapy • estrogen • blood clots • heart attack • mammogram • stroke • Wyeth • progestin • health study • health risks • HRT

Hormone Therapy Skews Diagnosis

Drugs increase false mammogram results, unnecessary biopsies

Feb 26, 08 11:55 AM CST
(Newser) - Women who use hormone replacement therapy to combat menopause symptoms are more likely to get false mammogram results and have unneeded biopsies, new research shows. The UCLA analysis of an earlier study of more than 16,000 women found that 35% of those on hormones received skewed test results, as... More »

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medicine • breast cancer • women's health • hormone replacement therapy • cancer research • mammogram • Women's Health Initiative

Hormone Therapy May Triple Risk of Breast Cancer

Risk increases in just three years, study finds

Jan 16, 08 5:33 AM CST
(Newser) - Millions of women who take combination hormones to counter symptoms of menopause may be three times more likely to develop a certain type of breast cancer, according to a new study. Most researchers assumed it takes five years of daily estrogen and progestin to increase cancer risks, but the threat... More »

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breast cancer • estrogen • menopause • mammogram • combination hormone therapy • progestin • Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center • Virginia Mason Medical Center

Mammograms Hard to Read Even When There's a Lump

Radiologists miss tumors 21% of the time

Dec 12, 07 10:23 AM CST
(Newser) - The accuracy of mammograms is highly dependent on the radiologist reading them, not only in finding easy-to-miss tumors but in diagnosing visible lumps, reports Reuters. "On average, 21 percent of breast cancers were missed and 4.3 percent of women underwent a biopsy even though they didn't have breast... More »

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cancer • breast cancer • mammogram • radiology

Breast Cancer Death Rates Continue to Drop

Cases dipped most dramatically for women over 50

Sep 26, 07 7:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Breast cancer mortality rates have continued to drop 2% a year, according to the latest statistics from the American Cancer Society.  Diagnoses also fell 3.7% annually, both because fewer women were on hormone therapy which could have triggered more cases and because 2% fewer women were getting mammograms,... More »

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cancer • breast cancer • American Cancer Society • mammogram • diagnosis • mortality

Cancer Society Takes on Health Care Policy

Ads will focus on inadequate insurance, effect on prevention

Aug 31, 07 1:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - The American Cancer Society’s next ad campaign won’t tackle the tobacco wars or advocate mammograms, the Times reports. Instead, the group will devote its entire $15 million ad budget to the nation’s health care crisis. The move follows recent research linking detection delays with lack of... More »

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cancer • health care • health • American Cancer Society • tobacco • mammogram • American Heart Association • American Diabetes Association • Alzheimers Association • American Medical Association

MRIs Beat Mammograms at Spotting Earliest Breast Cancer

Researchers urge switch to save lives

Aug 10, 07 10:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - MRIs significantly outperform mammograms in detecting pockets of abnormal cells that can lead to full-blown breast cancer, and the costly scans should be used routinely to save more women's lives, researchers say. A new study out today says MRIs detected 92% of the early lesions, called ductal carcinoma in situ,... More »

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cancer • breast cancer • medical research • cancer research • oncology • MRI • mammogram

 Docs Tell Younger Women: Avoid Mammograms

Younger women should think twice before x-raying breasts, docs say

Apr 3, 07 8:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - Forty-something women should consider skipping their annual mammograms, the American College of Physicians is suggesting after a new review of research. Docs point to danger from radiation and unnecessary biopsies, surgery and chemotherapy, thanks in part to a high rate of false positives.  "We don't think the evidence... More »

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cancer • technology • health • breast cancer • American Cancer Society • women • science • mammogram

New Breast Scan Beats Mammogram

Uses near-infrared rays to illuminate tumors and sort benign from malignant

Mar 27, 07 12:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - A new type of breast scan promises to pick up the tumors mammograms often miss and to distinguish between benign and malignant masses—without surgery. The technology relies on harmless near-infrared light to illuminate the masses, which glow when exposed to a particular chemical combination. More »

MORE ABOUT:
cancer • medicine • medical breakthrough • health • breast cancer • Harvard Medical School • mammogram

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