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Mammography cancer risk for young women

Radiation Exposure From Annual Mammography Increases Breast Cancer Risk in Young High-Risk Women Medscape Today Fran Lowry 3 Dec 09

December 2, 2009 (Chicago, Illinois) — The low doses of radiation associated with annual screening mammography could be placing high-risk women in even more jeopardy of developing breast cancer, particularly if they start screening at a young age or have frequent exposure, according to new research presented here at the Radiological Society of North America 95th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting.

A meta-analysis of 6 studies found that women with BRCA1 or BCRA2 gene mutations or a family history of breast cancer who were exposed to radiation, either from mammography or chest x-rays, before the age of 20 had a risk for breast cancer that was 2.5 times higher than their counterparts who were not exposed to radiation (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9 – 3.2).

The analysis, which examined 9420 high-risk women, also found that 5 or more mammograms increased risk 2.5-fold (95% CI, 1.6 – 3.9), Marijke C. Jansen-van der Weide, PhD, from the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, reported……………….”The take-home message here is that high-risk women who are younger should be careful about mammography screening,” she told Medscape Radiology. “Because they are young, they also have dense breasts, which poses a problem with mammography. They should explore alternative screening methods.”

Radiation Exposure From Mammography Increases Breast Cancer Risk

December 3, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, radiation, radioactive