Studies Examine Ultrasounds For Breast Cancer Detection, Teen Exercise On Cancer Risk

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  MRI / PET / Ultrasound;  Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 16 May 2008 - 8:00 PST

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Using ultrasounds in addition to mammograms is more effective at detecting breast cancer than only using mammograms, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, USA Today reports. According to the study, 78% of the women who developed breast cancer had their cancer detected by the combination of ultrasounds and mammograms.

However, 90% of potential breast cancers detected by ultrasounds later proved benign, the study found. Such cases can cause unnecessary anxiety in women and lead to unnecessary biopsies, Wendie Berg, a radiologist at Johns Hopkins University and lead author of the study, said. As a result, most women should not undergo ultrasounds to detect potential breast cancer, Berg said. The study was funded by the Avon Foundation and the National Cancer Institute.

For the study, Berg and colleagues examined the records of more than 2,600 women considered at high risk for breast cancer. The study found that mammograms detected breast cancer in eight of every 1,000 women. When researchers used ultrasounds, the detection rate increased to 12 breast cancer cases per 1,000 women (Szabo, USA Today, 5/14).

According to Lawrence Bassett, section chief for the University of California-Los Angeles Iris Cantor Center for Breast Imaging, ultrasounds should be conducted for women at high risk for breast cancer, which include women who have dense breast tissue or who have a close relative who was diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50. Bassett recommends an MRI for women with an even higher risk of breast cancer -- including women whose previous biopsies have shown abnormalities, as well as those who carry the breast cancer gene or have a close relative who does. According to NPR's "All Things Considered," MRIs are "far more" sensitive and costly than an ultrasound" (Neighmond, "All Things Considered," NPR, 5/13).

The study is available online.

CBS' "Evening News" on Tuesday reported on the study. The segment includes comments from Freya Schnabel of the New York University Langone Medical Center and a breast cancer patient (LaPook, "Evening News," CBS, 5/13).

Teen Exercise Study

Another study published Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that women who exercised as teens might have reduced risk for breast cancer later in life, the AP/Chicago Tribune reports. The study, led by Graham Colditz of the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, looked data on almost 65,000 women ages 24 to 42 who have participated in the ongoing Nurses Health Study.

Study participants answered detailed questionnaires about their exercise habits after age 12. Within six years of enrollment in the study, 550 participants developed premenopausal breast cancer. The latest study found that participants who exercised as teens and young adults were 23% less likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer than those who did not exercise during those years.

According to the study, whether participants exercised from ages 12 to 22 had the most effect on whether they developed premenopausal breast cancer later in life. Participants at the lowest risk for premenopausal breast cancer exercised vigorously for three hours and 15 minutes weekly or exercised less vigorously for 13 hours weekly, the study found. Colditz said, "This really points to the benefit of sustained physical activity from adolescence through the adult years, to get the maximum benefit." He added that the study might also apply to risk for postmenopausal breast cancer (Neergaard, AP/Chicago Tribune, 5/14).

The study is available online.

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