Mammogram risks may outweigh benefits for young BRCA carriers
(Reuters Health) UPDATED 2009-02-01
Researchers say the radiation in mammograms may have a harmful effect on young women who have the BRCA gene mutation, a report from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests. Early, yearly screening for breast cancer is usually recommended for BRCA1 or BRCA2 carriers, but 22 studies on over 8,000 women indicate that annual mammograms starting at 25 to 29 years of age would confer a lifetime risk of radiation-induced breast cancer mortality of 26 per 10,000 women. Pushing yearly screenings back to age 30 to 34 reduced the number to 20 deaths, experts say. The study’s authors suggest that the risks associated with early screening outweigh the benefits for women younger than 34.
Read full story >
See all Breast Cancer News
