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CNN Live Today
Interview With Sharon Rosenbaum-Smith
Aired February 22, 2002 - 14:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In health news now, the debate over mammograms. A government panel is giving what it calls its final word on mammograms for women 40 and older. The panel says they should get one every year or two to reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer. This advice now counters the concerns of the National Cancer Institute, about the benefits of mammography.
Joining us now to weigh in on this debate, Dr. Sharon Rosenbaum- Smith, a breast surgeon at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center there in New York. Doctor, good afternoon. Good to see you today.
DR. SHARON ROSENBAUM-SMITH, BREAST SURGEON: Good afternoon.
HEMMER: From the outset, why is there confusion on this matter anyway?
ROSENBAUM-SMITH: Well, the confusion that has been spurred recently stems from a study that came out that looked at the previous seven studies looking at the guidelines for mammography, and for the benefits mammography has brought for women. And the study, looking at these previous studies, have shown that there were some flaws, and they questioned whether mammography is truly decreasing the breast cancer death rate.
HEMMER: What about preventative medicine, doctor? Why not just go ahead and do it and -- heck, we go to the dentist twice a year to get our teeth cleaned, for crying out loud. I mean, this is much more important than that.
ROSENBAUM-SMITH: Screening for breast caner is extremely important. I think that this new study that came out today is a very, very important study, because it confirms what we had previously thought. Mammography benefits is that it can potentially identify breast cancer at the earliest, most treatable state, and preferably at a state where it's curable, and that women will need less invasive surgery, than if they didn't have the mammogram and they found the cancer when it was palpable.
So I think that these guidelines that they've instituted, or they've reconfirmed, which says that mammograms should be performed every year starting at the age of 40, is very important. And it's something that all women should definitely take to heart.
HEMMER: Tell us why they talk about the age 40. What is critical about that point in a woman's life?
ROSENBAUM-SMITH: Well, the prior studies -- or the prior guidelines that this committee had said was the mammograms should performed starting at age 50. And it was questionable whether women starting at age 40 should have mammograms. The concern is that as women are younger, their breasts are more dense, and that cancers are more easily hidden within that dense breast tissue, and the mammography is not as sensitive in these women.
However, breast cancer is such an important thing to diagnose early. This year alone, over 180,000 women are going to be diagnosed with breast cancer. And by starting mammography at age 40, we have decreased the death rate by up to a third from breast cancer. And these cancers have been at a much earlier stage than they were, previous to the introduction of mammography.
HEMMER: Really good advice given there. Quick question here, talking with a colleague earlier today. She says that some women might be reluctant to do the testing because of the potential for physical side effects. Is that prevalent?
ROSENBAUM-SMITH: There really are not too many physical side effects from mammography. They are uncomfortable for some women to have, but the benefits far outweigh it. One of the downsides that some people are concerned about is that there is a 10 percent false positive rate, meaning that in 10 percent of the mammograms, they will pick up a finding that will require a woman to have a biopsy or possibly surgery, and will turn out to be benign, not to be cancerous.
But now we have minimally invasive techniques of biopsying these lesions, and that the side effects to it -- again, the benefits far outweigh the side effects.
HEMMER: Good message to get out. Dr. Sharon Rosenbaum-Smith there, live in New York. The government says if you're 40 and over, get it done every year or two. Thank you, Doctor. Have a good weekend.
ROSENBAUM-SMITH: Thank you.
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