According to women’s health expert Marla Ahlgrimm, the need for annual mammograms is one of those ongoing debates that are hard to keep up with. Breast cancer screening for older women is even more confusing, acknowledges Ahlgrimm. The American Cancer Society recommends annual mammograms for women age 75, while the US Preventive Services task force sees a lack of evidence to evaluate the harms and benefits of mammography.
Q: Should a woman age 75 and older get an annual mammogram?
Marla Ahlgrimm: A woman this age should discuss her individual risk of breast cancer and competing risks of mortality with her doctor, before making a decision on whether or not to get a mammogram.
Q: Does mammography benefit healthy women over 75 who have a reasonable life expectancy?
Marla Ahlgrimm: New findings suggest that mammography does benefit healthy women in that age range. That's because by increasing the detection rate of early-stage cancers, mammograms can help keep older women alive longer.
Q: How do cancers detected in a mammogram compare to cancers detected by a physician or patient?
Marla Ahlgrimm: A study found that cancers detected via mammography were more likely to be at the earlier stage compared to physician-or patient-detected cancers, which were more likely to be invasive cancers.
Q: What does this mean for the patient?
Marla Ahlgrimm: Breast cancers detected via mammography were more likely to be treated with lumpectomy and radiation. Cancers detected by physicians and patients were more likely to be treated with chemotherapy, which is not well tolerated in older persons.
Q: So, catching cancers early via mammography was found to be a benefit to older women?
Marla Ahlgrimm: Yes. One thing to keep in mind, once a woman is 75 and older, there is not much breast density, so it's a perfect age to get screened.