Task Force Says It Poorly Communicated Breast Cancer Guidelines

Members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force told Congress, "We have communicated very poorly" it's recommendations for breast cancer screening. (Dec. 2)

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• mammogram hearing
• task
• force
• says
• poorly
• communicated
• breast
• cancer

[lamamancinq]

@hotta00

Yes.

[doctorcrafts]

Ignore false positives and unnecessary biopies for a moment and just look at the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer needlessly; for every 1 woman saved by screening there are 10 who are diagnosed and treated for breast cancer who would have lived their whole lives not EVER having a single symptom from that "cancer"

They refer to it as "unnecessary diagnosis" it's totally different than false positives.

Informed consent requires acknowledgement of the harms of unnecessary diagnosis

[CourageIsMyStrength]

@hotta00

After a possible problem detected by mammogram no woman is then headed into surgery. Then you go to ultrasounds, MRIs and more physical exams. I would much rather have a false positive and know I might have a problem, get it checked, and save my life, than do nothing and hope for the best.

[hotta00]

hera69ing, do you know how many had been treated and? "cured" with false positives ? and how many actually got cancer while having benign tumor or smth. else than cancer - while being exposed to 3-month dose radiation every year on a regular base? not to mention all the side effects of chemo and radiotherapy :|

[hotta00]

lamamancinq do you know anyone actually being treated with chemo and radiotherapy?

[hotta00]

omg 56% of false positives???? what is the reliability of the mammography???

what means less biopsies, once you got a mammography positive - you have to make biopsy, no?

i am shocked O.O

[hera69ing]

Even the USPSTF states that MORE women will be dieing because of these changes! I know women in their 30s who have had breast cancer..even in their 20's! This panel only has one thing in mind and that is to decrease the amount of women being TREATED for cancer..the test is not expensive, the TREATMENT is!

This is what the Bill will give us...more people NOT having health care and the ultra rich the only ones being able to afford it.

[lamamancinq]

According to USPSTFs Effects of Mammography Screening Under Different Screening Schedules, annual screening from ages 40-84 reduced breast cancer deaths by 42%, while biennial screening from ages 50-74 reduced breast cancer deaths by only 23%. Both are considered efficient in terms of mortality reduction and # of mammograms (cost).

Annual saves 19% more lives, but biennial has a higher cost-effectiveness ratio.

Which screening strategy did the task force choose to recommend?

[lamamancinq]

@hotta00,

According to Screening for Breast Cancer: Systematic Evidence Review Update for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, women in general have up to a 49% chance of false-positives. For women in their 40s, that risk is up to 56%. (They actually have less biopsies than older women, btw.) In balancing harms and benefits, a 7% increase in the likelihood of a false-positive scare hardly justifies discontinuing screening for this age group which reduces breast cancer deaths by 14%.

[HemiHead66]

Communicated very poorly? What did the Republicans put you up to this to kill healthcare reform? Your timing was perfect. A little to perfect. I know the RNC was behind this.