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American Morning

Two New Studies on Mammograms

Aired September 03, 2002 - 08:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Two new studies on mammograms, two entirely different conclusions, dividing medical professionals once again, leaving a lot of us very confused about what we should do. These are just the latest reports on what has been a very long and contradictory debate over the benefits of screening for breast cancer.
Let's turn to Elizabeth Cohen, who has actually read the studies. She's at CNN's Center for today's "House Call."

Let me tell you, Elizabeth, when I saw this one, I just rolled my eyes big time. What is going on here?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know, Paula.

You and I have been talking about this debate for months and months now. It just keeps going on. I'm going to tell you why it's really not all that confusing. Let's take a look at what these two studies said. They specifically looked at the question, should women in their 40's get mammograms? Is it worth it? Will it save lives?

The first study was a long one, 50,000 women in Canada. And the conclusion was mammography did not reduce breast cancer mortality. In other words, if you got a mammogram, it didn't necessarily save your life. It didn't -- when women got mammograms, the group that got mammograms, didn't have a lower death rate than the group that did get mammograms. It didn't seem to matter if you got one.

However, in the same medical journal that's coming out today, "The Annals of Internal Medicine," there's another study, this one from the U.S. government, from Health and Human Services. They looked at not just one study, but they looked at all of evidence, and here's what they found. The U.S. Preventative Services Task force recommends screening mammography every one to two years for women 40 and older. How do you explain this? Well, basically, each side says that the other side is doing bad studies. Basically that's what it comes down to.

For example, I talked to one doctor from the American Cancer Society, who said, you know what, this Canadian study, these women were enrolled in the study in the '80s. Mammograms in the '80s were completely different. They weren't as good as they are today . The pictures that you got in the mammograms weren't as clear. The radiologists weren't as well trained at reading them. So he really discounts this study. He says, just forget about it, it doesn't really mean anything.

So what is a woman in her 40s to do? Should a woman go get a mammogram? Well, what experts tell me is, you know what, don't go by one study, go by the groups that have looked at all the studies and have had panels studying this and have made recommendations based on everything. So there are so many groups now that recommend women get mammograms at age 40, including the American Cancer Society, the American Society of Clinical Oncologists, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American College of Radiology, the lists goes on. The National Cancer Institute also recommends start getting mammograms at age 40.

Paula, that's what the experts say, they say don't look at the Canadian study or the this study or that study, look at the big groups that have studied this. We couldn't find a major U.S. group that did not recommend woman start getting mammograms in their 40s. So that seems to be the word -- start at age 40.

ZAHN: Yes, that is good to know. And you probably also want to point out, is there any risk associated with mammograms? As you said, obviously the technology has changed so dramatically since the '80s, and the amount of radiation you received during those mammograms and the technology today.

COHEN: Right, exactly, the risk is very low. I mean, you have to ask, what's the downside of getting a mammogram. And you know what, there's not much of a downside at all. The radiation is very tiny. The only real sort of emotional risk would be that if there's a false positive, you're doctor says, you know what, we think we found some cancer, and it turns out that it wasn't cancer, and so you have your wits scared out of you for a period of days, or weeks or whatever.

But really, that is not much of a risk when you consider that it could also catch cancer before it gets even worse.

ZAHN: Elizabeth, 10 seconds left. I know there's a question about the level of detail in these studies, which one was done better. But what was the issue of money involved here?

COHEN: Well, The issue of money is sort of a subtle one. Places like Canada or some of the Scandinavian countries that have socialized medicine, they want to know, is it worth spending money on giving mammograms to women in their 40s, so for them the answer is -- it's a very expensive answer. Is it worth spending the money? And I think people need to remember that, this isn't just a question of medicine, this is a question of money, but for your own health, you need to think about, do I want to take that risk? Do I want to miss a mammogram, just so that other people can save money?

ZAHN: Yes, all you have to do is talk to the thousands of women out there whose breast cancers were picked up on mammograms. Most will tell you what they have to think about all of this, won't they?

COHEN: Exactly.

ZAHN: You're going to find that 200 bucks anyway you can. Thanks, Elizabeth. Appreciate it. That did help clear it up, until the next one comes along. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com