Study of nearly 400,000 women: breast self-exam may not help

by William Atkins

Sunday, 20 July 2008

Page 1 of 3 ! The Cochrane Collaboration reviewed the use of the breast self-exam (BSE). It based its conclusions on two studies that together gathered data from 388,535 Chinese and Russian women. The CC study found that the BSE does not help, and actually harms women. The review performed by the Cochrane Collaboration (CC), a medical research evaluation organization, found that the use of breast self-examinations shows no evidence with reducing the death from breast cancer. It further states that the breast examination may, in fact, “do more harm than good. [MSNBC: “Ladies, give your breasts a rest, research says"] The results by the researchers were published in the Tuesday, July 15, 2008 issue of The Cochrane Library. The paper entitled "Regular self-examination or clinical examination for early detection of breast cancer" was performed by Jan Peter Kösters (The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, Dept. 7112, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark) and Peter C Gøtzsche (The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, Dept. 3343, Copenhagen Ø, Denmar). It states “Data from two large trials do not suggest a beneficial effect of screening by (BSE) but do suggest harm in terms of increased numbers of benign lesions identified and an increased number of biopsies performed. At present, screening by breast self-examination or physical examination cannot be recommended.” [CC paper] The CC report learned that women who performed BSEs and those who did not had the same number of breast cancer deaths. In addition, the CC report stated that women who performed BSEs were twice as likely to get breast biopsies. In many cases, those biopsies turned out to be benign. Consequently, the researchers concluded "screening by breast self-examination or physical examination cannot be recommended." [Peoria Journal Star: “New study doubts breast self-exams”] David B. Thomas, who headed one study within the CC report makes some comments on the use of BSE. Please read on. << First page <   1 2 3 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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