Study: Mammogram lowers risk of developing cancer elsewhere

SCRIPPS HOWARD
Women who have breast cancer detected by a mammogram run less risk of having cancer elsewhere in the body over the next 10 years than women whose tumors are discovered by other means, according to a new study.
Finnish researchers found that women with tumors detected by means other than mammogram had a 90 percent greater risk for recurrence of cancer in the breast or a malignant tumor in another location than women with tumors detected by mammography.
The results, if confirmed, could offer more guidance for cancer specialists and patients in deciding whether additional treatment beyond initial surgery and radiation therapy is recommended to help avoid recurrence or later spread of cancer. The study appeared Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Heikki Joensuu of the Helsinki University Central Hospital and colleagues compared survival outcomes of women with tumors detected by mammography and women with tumors found without such screening diagnosed in 1991-92. The study included 2,842 women drawn from the Finnish Cancer Registry. The women were followed for an average of 9 1/2 years.
After taking into account the size and grade of the tumors, involvement of other lymph nodes, the patient's age and other factors, the researchers concluded that having a tumor detected by a mammogram was by itself "a favorable prognostic variable."