Breast cancer screening rates among young premenopausal women are declining, according to a study on mammography use from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mammographers worry that the trend could lead to the erosion of screening services and of preventive care in general.

The clinical literature documented a dramatic increase in the use of mammography screening during the 1990s. Recent reports have linked this utilization growth with the decline in breast cancer incidence and mortality rates observed until 2004. The same reports also note a decline in mammography use from 2000 through 2005, however, causing concern about eventual mortality rate hikes.

The latest CDC report, published in the February issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology, provides evidence that a troubling trend may be at hand. Researchers analyzed mammography screening utilization rates for each U.S. state in correlation with its respective breast cancer incidence rates. In two-thirds of the states, investigators saw a slight decline in mammography use between 2000 and 2006.

With the exception of Tennessee, every state saw a breast cancer incidence rate reduction during the 2000-2006 period, while 17 had a slight increase in mammography screening rates. Researchers also discovered a decline in screening rates, however, in 34 states and the District of Columbia. The overall screening utilization rate among women age 40 or older decreased slightly or remained stagnant, according to the study.

A commentary that also appeared in the February AJR by Dr. Ruth C. Carlos, an associate professor of radiology at the University of Michigan, warned that declining mammography screening rates could lead to lost opportunities for cancer prevention for a whole new generation of women, not only for those who are or soon will be eligible for screening.

Read full article >>