LCA Issues Statement On MRI Study On Screening For Breast Cancer

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Lung Cancer;  MRI / PET / Ultrasound;  Public Health
Article Date: 31 Mar 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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Lung Cancer Alliance supports the new call for high tech MRIs, in addition to mammograms, for women at high risk for breast cancer which will enable more tumors to be caught at their earliest, most treatable stages. This gives added hope to those women at high risk, especially those with a family history of breast cancer.

But it begs the question -- why does screening women at high risk for lung cancer meet with such virulent opposition from the same public health establishment when advanced CT technology and a well defined approach to follow-up testing is available to them -- today? While 40,000 women will die from breast cancer this year, over 70,000 women will die from lung cancer -- more than of all deaths from breast, cervical, ovarian and uterine cancers -- combined.

Six months ago, the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a study carried out over the past 13 years on 31,567 people which clearly showed that CT screening can detect lung cancer at its earliest stage in 85% of those scanned and lead to a 10-year survival rate of over 85%, versus a current five-year survival rate of only 15% among the unscreened population. The protocol has been so carefully developed that only 1.7% of those scanned required biopsies and 90% of those biopsies confirmed the diagnosis of malignant cancer. Notwithstanding the profound significance of these statistics, this extensive study was met with intense criticism from some sectors for not being a "randomized controlled trial" and for too many false- positives.

The MRI contra lateral breast cancer study, published in the same journal yesterday, was not a "randomized controlled trial" either. In contrast, it covered only 969 women over one year, resulted in twice as many false- positives as mammograms and CT scans, and led to 120 biopsies which showed that 75% of the suspected cancers were not malignant. In addition, MRIs cost five to ten times as much as mammograms or CT scans. Yet, this has not stopped the public health establishment from embracing MRIs as the new standard of care for women at high risk for breast cancer. Why are women at high risk for lung cancer being denied the same compassion and support?

LCA maintains its position that anyone at high risk for lung cancer because of a smoking history, a close family member with lung cancer, exposure in the workplace or during active military duty to asbestos, Agent Orange, beryllium and other carcinogens should speak with their doctor about getting a CT scan. The scans should only be done at sites with extensive experience in diagnosing lung cancer.

The Lung Cancer Alliance (http://www.LungCancerAlliance.org) is the only national non-profit organization solely dedicated to patient support and advocacy for people living with, or at risk for, lung cancer. As the number one cancer killer, lung cancer will kill more than 160,000 Americans this year alone, causing more deaths than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney cancers and melanoma combined.

Lung Cancer Alliance
http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/

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