- Did I calculate this correctly, that you are saying 10 out of 2000 women will receive a false positive (0.5%) and receive unneeded treatment?
- Out of these 10 women who receive an abnormal result on a mammogram (and the result should have been negative), how many then go on to receive another mammogram that resulted in a correct (negative) result?
- How many of the 10 women who had unneeded treatment actually had their entire breast removed? I find that difficult to believe...
Your quote "about 200 healthy women will experience a false alarm". I agree, there is psychological strain with a false positive. How many mammograms are you referring to? Is this 200 a year? (what is your denominator)
I think most women know that (like any medical exam), mammograms are not 100% accurate. They are given this information, and also told that for most women, an abnormal result usually does not indicate cancer. We are also told this with pap smears, too! Are you saying that women should also not have pap smears, because the emotional trauma of having an abnormal result would be too much to handle? Pap smears are much more invasive (and frequent) as compared to mammograms.
I also hope that mammograms will be improved, as well as all of our medical technology. I am not sure if any medical screening, test, evaluation or treatment will ever be a guaranteed 100% accurate, but a mammogram is the best "imagining method" (quoted from ACS, American Cancer Society) available today for detecting breast cancer early. And, early detection is the best "guarantee" of survival.
I, for one, am OK with having more stress in my life with a possible false positive, if it means a thousand other women are receiving needed treatment for breast cancer that they would not have detected otherwise.
Comment Reply
Hi,
Can you share your resources?
- Did I calculate this correctly, that you are saying 10 out of 2000 women will receive a false positive (0.5%) and receive unneeded treatment?
- Out of these 10 women who receive an abnormal result on a mammogram (and the result should have been negative), how many then go on to receive another mammogram that resulted in a correct (negative) result?
- How many of the 10 women who had unneeded treatment actually had their entire breast removed? I find that difficult to believe...
Your quote "about 200 healthy women will experience a false alarm". I agree, there is psychological strain with a false positive. How many mammograms are you referring to? Is this 200 a year? (what is your denominator)
I think most women know that (like any medical exam), mammograms are not 100% accurate. They are given this information, and also told that for most women, an abnormal result usually does not indicate cancer. We are also told this with pap smears, too! Are you saying that women should also not have pap smears, because the emotional trauma of having an abnormal result would be too much to handle? Pap smears are much more invasive (and frequent) as compared to mammograms.
I also hope that mammograms will be improved, as well as all of our medical technology. I am not sure if any medical screening, test, evaluation or treatment will ever be a guaranteed 100% accurate, but a mammogram is the best "imagining method" (quoted from ACS, American Cancer Society) available today for detecting breast cancer early. And, early detection is the best "guarantee" of survival.
I, for one, am OK with having more stress in my life with a possible false positive, if it means a thousand other women are receiving needed treatment for breast cancer that they would not have detected otherwise.
August 2, 2009 - 1:36pmThis Comment
Reply