Columnists, Cancer Groups Weigh In on Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations

November 20, 2009 — Several newspapers recently published opinion pieces regarding recent recommendations by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that recommend mammograms every two years for most women starting at age 50, rather than at age 40 as previously recommended. The recommendations also say that doctors should not instruct women on breast self-examinations. Summaries of the opinion pieces appear below.

~ Kathleen Parker, Chicago Tribune: "While some cancer groups, including the American Cancer Society, have objected strenuously to the panel's recommendations, Susan G. Komen for the Cure ... is aiming for a more measured -- strategic -- tone," columnist Parker writes. According to Parker, Komen founder Nancy Brinker "sees the report as yet another opportunity for activism. If current screening is imperfect, then why not make it better?" Parker continues, "Brinker sees the federal report as a good thing -- a 'clarion call' for funders, researchers and government to deliver a lower-cost, more-effective screening tool." Parker writes, "If Brinker has her way, the debate ... will lead to improved technology so crucial to detection" of breast cancer (Parker, Chicago Tribune, 11/18).

~ Gail Collins, New York Times: According to columnist Collins, the Obama administration "scurried away" from the task force's report because there "is no possible political advantage in coming out against medical testing," while Republicans "depicted it as the first step toward rationing" under health care reform. She notes, "Has anybody noticed that the people who darkly warn about government bureaucrats forcing insurance companies to cut back our coverage appear to be the same ones who just voted to force insurance companies to stop covering abortions?" Collins continues, "Every rational American wants qualified experts to keep re-examining current medical practices," adding, "The only thing that bothers me about the mammogram report is all the emphases on the 'anxiety' that might follow a false positive." She writes that the "real problem with a test that creates a lot of false-positive results is that it leads to a lot of other medical procedures" (Collins, New York Times, 11/10).

~ Otis Brawley, Washington Post: The task force "took a step backward in the fight against breast cancer," Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, writes. According to Brawley, "This rigorous discussion is an important part of reaching clear and understandable public health guidance. But it can be messy and confusing to the public." He continues, "And, in this case, it could result in fewer women getting screened and a return to the days when we caught cancers only when they were big enough to feel." He writes that current mammograms are "far from perfect" but are "the best way we have to find tumors early." Brawley concludes, "Let's not behave as though we lack a tool with proven benefits to women's health" (Brawley, Washington Post, 11/19).