A new study has found that women in their 40s benefit from breast cancer screenings.
When screening programs included this age group, the chances of surviving breast cancer over ten years were significantly higher. The research was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The Research
The study was conducted by Anna N. Wilkinson, M.D., and her team from the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada.
They looked at data of Canadian women aged 40-59 who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 2002 and 2007. This data came from the Canadian Cancer Registry.
The team compared two groups:
Women from regions where screening programs included those aged 40 to 49 (called “screeners”).
Women from areas where these screening programs did not include the 40 to 49 age group (called “comparators”).
Key Findings
For women aged 40 to 49 diagnosed with breast cancer, the disease was the main reason for death within ten years for about 90.7% of them.
Women in the “screeners” group had a 1.9% higher chance of surviving breast cancer over ten years compared to the “comparators” group (84.8% versus 82.9%).
This significant difference was observed for women aged 45 to 49. However, there wasn’t a significant difference for those aged 40 to 44.
In regions with “screeners,” the death rate from breast cancer was notably lower for women aged 40 to 49 and 45 to 49. Again, no significant difference was seen for women aged 40 to 44.
What This Means
This study indicates that including women in their 40s in breast cancer screening programs can lead to better survival outcomes.
Even though not many women participated in the screenings and the data predates some major treatment advances, the benefits of screening were clear.
As the authors of the study pointed out, screening programs for women aged 40 to 49 can offer a significant boost in survival rates.
It’s worth noting that one of the authors has connections with Thrive Health.
If you care about breast cancer, please read studies about a major cause of deadly breast cancer, and common blood pressure drugs may increase death risk in breast cancer.
For more information about cancer, please see recent studies that new cancer treatment could reawaken the immune system, and results showing vitamin D can cut cancer death risk.
The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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