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- <text id=93TT1110>
- <title>
- Mar. 08, 1993: Unreliable Breast Test
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993
- Mar. 08, 1993 The Search for the Tower Bomber
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- THE WEEK, Page 21
- HEALTH & SCIENCE
- Unreliable Breast Test
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>In younger women, mammograms don't seem to prevent cancer deaths
- </p>
-
- <p> Should women under 50 have mammograms to detect breast cancer?
- The National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society
- say yes--every year or two. But a Canadian study last year
- seemed to say no, and an accumulation of new research supports
- that conclusion. While older women benefit from the specialized
- X-ray procedure--those who have mammograms are less likely
- to die of breast cancer than those who don't--there appears
- to be no difference in mortality for younger women. Mammograms
- may be much less likely to detect incipient tumors in younger
- women because their breast tissue is denser, making the X rays
- harder to read.
- </p>
- <p> In light of the new evidence, the cancer establishment is reconsidering
- its guidelines. Meanwhile, doctors are urged to give all the
- facts to women under 50 and let them decide what to do.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
-