https://www.informd.org.au/workshop.html Hi all Here are some of the papers from the workshop - some are not available eg Jennifer Stone on WA as research project as yet unpublished.The one’s I f...
....one of the reasons they don’t screen below 50 is most have dense breasts when younger making mammograms difficult to diagnose breast cancer on younger people. Breast Density diminishes with age......
.....Breast density is established in puberty , is genetic and is caused by oestrogen.However it can change over time - HRT increases it but the following reduce breast density - Tamoxifen , child bearing , menopause, ageing and BMI....
hmmmmm ... yet so many of us still have dense breasts even tho we are older (I am 65) and already been thru menopause (started at 45, finished at 55) and ageing (well, I hope!) ..... and have 'average' BMI - but then again, I didn't have kids & have never been pregnant .... tho I DID have HRT cream for a few months 15 years ago (before it gave me an abnormal BreastScreen result due to the testosterone component back then!) And you are only on Tamoxifen AFTER being diagnosed anyway ....
It is really easy to see how tumours 'disappear' in dense breasts (i.e. difficult to identify with mammogram) - just look at the 2 final pics .... the person reading MY mammogram couldn't even see the tumours, even tho exactly pinpointed by my GP on the referral, after she had found them! The Ultrasound result the same day, wasn't much better - not identifying anything as a tumour but suggesting a biopsy as a safeguard! The bloke setting me up for the biopsy reckoned there was no need for a biopsy and told the Doctor .... HOW WRONG WAS HE??
It is ESSENTIAL that they advise ANY woman with dense breasts that they WILL need further screening of a different type, possibly even MRI - and not just 'hope' nothing happens to them.
As @Sister says - we've been given a false sense of security for too long, in simply HAVING the screening ..... (I've ALWAYS been uncomfortable with the 'after letter' where they say the mammogram screening isn't proof of NOT having cancer ..... as so many of us have found out!)
....But surely the exact grade isn't what is important - it's merely the fact that early cancers could be obscured. It takes enough courage, particularly when BC is in the family, to go along to a breastscreen without going away with a false sense of security....
You don't need a university education to know that ANY information that will assist in an earlier diagnosis and hopefully a less invasive procedure is ESSENTIAL for the patient to be made aware of.
The whole 'medical thing' whether Doctor or other professional is to 'do no damage'.
By NOT informing us, they are playing God!
How about we do a poll of those who had had a Mammogram within 6-12 months of being diagnosed? I think the results may surprise many! :(
