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American Morning
'House Call'
Aired May 15, 2003 - 09:35 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Bill, the American Cancer Society has some surprising new suggestions about screening for breast cancer.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is at the CNN Center with this story on that. It involves both self-exams and mammograms, right?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, it deals with all forms of breast cancer prevention, Fredricka. These are the first breast American cancer society breast cancer prevention guidelines since 1997, and one part of it is, as you said, sure to surprise women and possibly confuse them.
American Cancer Society now saying women do not need to do breast self-examinations. Those are those monthly examinations that doctors have been telling women to do for many, many years now.
The American Cancer Society says it is acceptable if they don't do them. The reason for that is they say that studies show that these exams do not necessarily help detect cancers early. And so they say the scientific evidence just isn't there to continue saying that you absolutely should do them. The American Cancer Society does still say that self-exams are still important, and that's the part that will probably be confusing.
Basically what the Cancer Society is saying, we would prefer that women do them, but we can't say, can't actually encourage women to do them as a necessary part of breast cancer prevention, because the science just isn't there to say that they actually help detect cancers.
Now this is sure to anger many breast cancer survivors who say they caught their cancer during one of the self-exams.
Let's take a look at some of the other recommendations from the American Cancer Society. The new guidelines also say that most women, women of average risk, should get their first mammogram at age 40. They say the evidence is stronger than ever that mammograms really do help detect cancer early. And that high-risk women should start getting them at age 30, and talk to their doctors about getting MRIs and ultrasounds, because studies have shown those can be even more effective than mammograms, and, Fredricka, high-risk women would be women who have a gene that predisposes them to breast cancer, or have a strong history of breast cancer in their family -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, Elizabeth, I wonder if there is some concern now that this is certainly going to confuse so many women, especially since so many women felt like mammograms and self-exams were rather empowering, and they felt that they were taking a proactive approach in order to help avert any serious medical problems.
COHEN: Well, first let's separate mammograms and self-exams. Mammograms, study after study has shown that they really do help. All of the major breast cancer and cancer organizations say get mammograms, and ACS is specifically saying get a mammogram at age 40, or even 10 years earlier, if you are at high risk.
So that advice has not changed. If anything, it's actually gotten stronger. For breast self-exams, it has really been going back and forth, and there was a major study that was done in the past year in Shanghai, that found that it didn't help when women didn't self- exams, that it didn't help prevent cancer or prevent cancer deaths.
Now some people say that Americans shouldn't be basing their recommendations on a study done in China, because the two words aren't exactly parallel. But the American Cancer Society has decided that they are not going officially recommend that this is a necessary part of breast cancer prevention.
WHITFIELD: All right, thank you very much, Elizabeth Cohen from Atlanta. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 15, 2003 - 09:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Bill, the American Cancer Society has some surprising new suggestions about screening for breast cancer.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is at the CNN Center with this story on that. It involves both self-exams and mammograms, right?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, it deals with all forms of breast cancer prevention, Fredricka. These are the first breast American cancer society breast cancer prevention guidelines since 1997, and one part of it is, as you said, sure to surprise women and possibly confuse them.
American Cancer Society now saying women do not need to do breast self-examinations. Those are those monthly examinations that doctors have been telling women to do for many, many years now.
The American Cancer Society says it is acceptable if they don't do them. The reason for that is they say that studies show that these exams do not necessarily help detect cancers early. And so they say the scientific evidence just isn't there to continue saying that you absolutely should do them. The American Cancer Society does still say that self-exams are still important, and that's the part that will probably be confusing.
Basically what the Cancer Society is saying, we would prefer that women do them, but we can't say, can't actually encourage women to do them as a necessary part of breast cancer prevention, because the science just isn't there to say that they actually help detect cancers.
Now this is sure to anger many breast cancer survivors who say they caught their cancer during one of the self-exams.
Let's take a look at some of the other recommendations from the American Cancer Society. The new guidelines also say that most women, women of average risk, should get their first mammogram at age 40. They say the evidence is stronger than ever that mammograms really do help detect cancer early. And that high-risk women should start getting them at age 30, and talk to their doctors about getting MRIs and ultrasounds, because studies have shown those can be even more effective than mammograms, and, Fredricka, high-risk women would be women who have a gene that predisposes them to breast cancer, or have a strong history of breast cancer in their family -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, Elizabeth, I wonder if there is some concern now that this is certainly going to confuse so many women, especially since so many women felt like mammograms and self-exams were rather empowering, and they felt that they were taking a proactive approach in order to help avert any serious medical problems.
COHEN: Well, first let's separate mammograms and self-exams. Mammograms, study after study has shown that they really do help. All of the major breast cancer and cancer organizations say get mammograms, and ACS is specifically saying get a mammogram at age 40, or even 10 years earlier, if you are at high risk.
So that advice has not changed. If anything, it's actually gotten stronger. For breast self-exams, it has really been going back and forth, and there was a major study that was done in the past year in Shanghai, that found that it didn't help when women didn't self- exams, that it didn't help prevent cancer or prevent cancer deaths.
Now some people say that Americans shouldn't be basing their recommendations on a study done in China, because the two words aren't exactly parallel. But the American Cancer Society has decided that they are not going officially recommend that this is a necessary part of breast cancer prevention.
WHITFIELD: All right, thank you very much, Elizabeth Cohen from Atlanta. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
