Cancer center exec questions breast exam recommendations

Dear Editor:

On behalf of physicians at Baton Rouge General’s Pennington Cancer Center, I am expressing our concern for the recommendations recently made by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for women at normal risk for breast cancer.

As Louisiana’s first accredited breast center by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, we believe women in the 40 to 74 age group should continue annual mammography screenings, physician breast exams and self breast exams because early detection of breast cancer results in better outcomes and more treatment choices.

The USPSTF recommendations advise against regular mammography screening for women 40 to 49 years of age, support mammograms only every other year for women between 50 and 74, and recommend no breast cancer screening in women over 74.

If adopted as policy, two decades of decline in breast cancer mortality could be reversed and many may needlessly die – this at a time when deaths from breast cancer are declining at a rate of two percent annually, presumable due to early detection efforts and improved treatment options.

Physicians at Pennington Cancer Center support early detection methods for women age 40 and above as recommended by the American Cancer Society, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, American College of Radiology, and American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Dr. Richard F. Burroughs,

Medical Director, Pennington

Cancer Center at Baton Rouge General