TICA
Senior Member
- Location
- East Coast
Time for the annual exam Ladies!!
Is mammography an effective tool for detecting tumors? Some critics say no. In a Swedish study of 60,000 women, 70 percent of the mammographically detected tumors weren't tumors at all. These "false positives" aren't just financial and emotional strains, they may also lead to many unnecessary and invasive biopsies. In fact, 70 to 80 percent of all positive mammograms do not, upon biopsy, show any presence of cancer.
It certainly isn't perfect, but I also had a lump detected with a mammogram. It turned out that it wasn't cancer, but it could have been. In my mind, it's better than nothing.
Guess I respectively disagree gals. A mammogram saved my wife's life. The cancer did show up on her test and was caught in time enough to treat with chemo and radiation. 7years cancer free now.
I have a mammogram every two years plus an ultrasound. The risks for me are not high except for my age but I think it is silly not to check for breast cancer when it is easy to pick it up early.
Any woman who smokes and who has never breastfed is at increased risk and should be watchful. Family history is something else that should be taken into consideration.
