Newspaper Page Text
12
APRIL 17, 1997 AUGUSTA FOCUS
Black physicians call for yearly
breast exams for younger black women
Recently, a National Medical As
sociation (NMA) panel of medical
experts released its mammography
screening recommendations which
call for annual screening for Afri
can-American women between the
ages of 40 and 49 years of age.
Randall C. Morgan, Jr., M.D,,
NMA president, states “statistics
show that breast cancer remains
the leading cause of cancer related
deathsin African-American women,
and they are twice as likely as their
white counterparts to die of breast
cancer within five years of their
diagnosis.” Dr. Morgan further
states that the NMA Panel’s rec
ommendations were based on sev
eral factors, one in particular, was
the recent study at Howard Uni
versity Cancer Center that revealed
approximately 30 percent of breast
cancers diagnosed between 1985
and 1994 in African-American
women were below age 50.
While the incidence of breast can
cer is lower in African-American
women (95.8 cases per 100,000
women) thanin whitewomen (113.1
casesper 100,000 women), the mor
tality rate is higher because Afri-
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While the incidence of breast cancer is
lower in African-American women than in
white women, the mortality rate is higher.
can-American women with breast
cancer have an overall lower five
year disease specific survival rate
(64 percent in African-American
women compared with 80 percent
in white women). Dr. Morgan as
serts, “African-American women,
whendiagnosed, are more likely tobe
in the advanced stages of breast can
cer. The NMA applauds the Ameri
can Cancer Society’s recommenda
tions of yearly exams for women be
tween the ages of 40 and 49.
The NMA Panel findings indicate
that the amount of data concerning
screening of breast cancer and its
effectiveness among African Ameri
cans is sparse. However,
mammograms at regular intervals
have been show to be effective in
reducing breast cancer mortality to
33 percent in women ages 50 to 69.
Resultsfrom the Meta Analysis (eight
random control trials), revealed a sig
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nificant 17 percent reduction in mor
tality rate in women 40 to 49 years of
age. Although the benefits of mam
mography screening for women be
tween 40 and 49 appears to be less
than what is seen in older women, it
is nevertheless substantial.
The Surveillance, Epidemiology
and End Results (SEER) data ex
amines the incidence patterns for
extent of disease in African Ameri
can and white women by age, at
diagnosis. This data revealed sig
nificant increases in early breast
cancer and a decrease in incidence
of more advanced stages of breast
cancer which is attributed to the
use of mammography screening.
Unfortunately, the decline in ad
vance stages diagnosis of breast
cancer was not as substantial for
African-American women as for
white women in this age group.
This statistic may, in fact, be attrib-
uted to under utilization of mam
mography screening. However,
these findings suggest consistent
diagnostic benefit received from
screening in all age groups 40 to 49
through 70 years and older.
Dr. Morgan felt the need was
obvious. “The NMA Panel renewed
its recommendations for African-
American women between the ages
of 40 and 49 because available data
indicates that annual mammogra
phy screeningsignificantly reduces
the mortality rate resulting from
breast cancer. Although the recent
National Institutes of Health con
sensus report of January 1997
lacked a recommendation for mam
mography screening for women
between the ages of 40 and 49 and
it does not form a definitive argu
ment against mammography
screening for African-American
women in this age group.
The NMA Panel consisted of epi
demiologistand NMA academicand
community physicians, radiologists
(mammographers), medical
nncologists and surgeons, having
interest and expertiseinbreast can
cer for African-American women.
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