UVM researchers track drop in women getting breast cancer screening - WCAX

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BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Fewer women around the country are getting routine mammograms. Research out from the UVM Cancer Center finds after the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force changed their guidelines around mammograms in 2009, screening rates dropped for all age groups, not just the recommended ones.

The research finds they dropped not only for the two age groups no longer recommended to have regular mammograms -- women in their 40s and women older than 75 -- but also fell half a percentage point for women ages 50 to 74. That is the age range still recommended to get regular screenings. In Vermont, it was more than double, with a 1.2 percentage point drop in that age group. Researchers say over the 10-year span, that’s about 10,000 fewer women getting screened.

A Vermonter whose mammogram caught her breast cancer early, says many women are now missing the potential to have less aggressive treatments if they’re diagnosed.

“Dumb luck” is how Kristin Foley describes catching her breast cancer early in her first mammogram at the age of 41. Being in her 40s and with no significant family history, she wasn’t recommended for screening yet. But she saw a Facebook post from the UVM Breast Care Center and scheduled one anyway. It changed her life.

“I was originally diagnosed with stage zero breast cancer, which means it’s all in the duct, so it’s very contained. So, I was very lucky to have that very early diagnosis,” Foley said.

She had a bilateral mastectomy that did not involve either chemo or radiation. But two years later, she got breast cancer again. This time they found a lump under her arm, and unlike her first round, this treatment was aggressive. “They threw everything at it,” Foley said.

Doctors say right now she has no detectable cancer. Foley says she knows it could come back, and her experience is why she encourages others to get mammograms early, too, even if they think they’re too busy or if they’re afraid of what they might learn. “It’s really important to know as soon as possible if there’s anything wrong,” she said.

Researchers at the UVM Cancer Center say hearing stories like hers often spurs others to seek out screening early. But with the change in guidelines in 2009, fewer women are recommended to get screened in their 40s. And they say that has spilled over to women in their 50s and older not getting mammograms -- the ages where they’re six times as likely to get a breast cancer diagnosis.

Sarah Nowak, an assistant professor of pathology at UVM, says they are still working to figure out exactly why, but they do have some theories. “People learn about early-stage diagnosis through screening less often, and since that had been a motivator before, that could lead to less breast cancer screening motivation. Another idea is that the new guidelines raised awareness of some of the downsides of early screening,” she said.

False positives and unnecessary follow-up testing are the main drawbacks. Nowak says she’s been following the numbers for years and was worried there would be unintended consequences to changing mammogram recommendations for younger and older women. “It’s important as we issue these guidelines, at the same time, we really emphasize the benefits of screening for those age groups where screening is still recommended,” she said.

Foley says mammograms aren’t pleasant, but she believes her cancer journey would have been much different if she’d waited to get one. “It’s 15 minutes of being uncomfortable, and it could be the difference between life and death. And it could be the difference between a better diagnosis, versus where I could have been,” she said.

For women who may be holding off because they’re afraid of a potential diagnosis of breast cancer, Foley says there are support groups that will understand and help. She advocates for those, and for making connections so that women’s battle against breast cancer isn’t as lonely.

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