Breast Cancer Rates Increase after Start of Screening Mammography in Norwegian Countries

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http://www.naturalnews.com/024901.html

(NaturalNews) A report just published in the Journal of the American

Medical Association's Archives of Internal Medicine (Arch Intern Med.

2008;168[21]:2302-2303) reaches a startling conclusion. Breast cancer

rates increased significantly in four Norwegian counties after women

there began getting mammograms every two years. In fact, according to

background information in the study, the start of screening mammography

programs throughout Europe has been associated with increased incidence

of breast cancer.

This raises some obvious and worrisome questions: Did the x-rays and/or

the sometimes torturous compression of breasts during mammography

actually spur cancer to develop? Or does this just look like an increase

in the disease rate because mammography is simply identifying more cases

of breast cancer?

The answer to the first question is that no one knows (and it isn't

addressed in the Archives of Internal Medicine study). But the second

question has an unexpected and – for those interested in the human

body's innate ability to heal itself – potentially paradigm-shifting

answer. The researchers say they can't blame the increased incidence of

breast cancer on more cases being found because the rates among

regularly screened women remained higher than rates among women of the

same age who only received mammograms once after six years. Bottom line:

the scientists conclude this indicates that some of the cancers detected

by mammography would have spontaneously regressed if they had never been

discovered on a mammogram and treated, usually with chemotherapy and

radiation. Simply put, it appears that some invasive breast cancers

simply go away on their own, healed by the body's own immune system.

Per-Henrik Zahl, M.D., Ph.D., of the Norwegian Institute of Public

Health, Oslo, and his research team studied breast cancer rates among

119,472 women (age 50 to 64). These research subjects were asked to

participate in three rounds of screening mammograms between 1996 and

2001, as part of the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program. The

scientists then compared the number of breast cancers found in this

group to the rate of malignancies among a control group of 109,784 women

who were the same ages in 1992, and who would have been invited for

breast screenings if the program had been in place that year. Cancers

were tracked using a national registry. Then, after six years, all

participants were invited to undergo a one-time screening to assess for

the prevalence of breast cancer.

The researchers were surprised to find that the incidence of invasive

breast cancer was 22 percent higher in the group regularly screened with

mammography. In fact, screened women were more likely to have breast

cancer at every age.

" Because the cumulative incidence among controls never reached that of

the screened group, it appears that some breast cancers detected by

repeated mammographic screening would not persist to be detectable by a

single mammogram at the end of six years, " the authors stated in their

report. " This raises the possibility that the natural course of some

screen-detected invasive breast cancers is to spontaneously regress. "

The researchers also conclude that their findings " provide new insight

on what is arguably the major harm associated with mammographic

screening, namely, the detection and treatment of cancers that would

otherwise regress. "

This does not mean breast cancer should be ignored or not treated. After

all, breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among American

women. But the extraordinarily good and hopeful news is that it appears

invasive breast cancer sometimes can be destroyed naturally -- at least

in some people -- by the body's own innate defenses.

" Although many clinicians may be skeptical of the idea, the excess

incidence associated with repeated mammography demands that spontaneous

regression be considered carefully, " the scientists wrote in their

report. " Spontaneous regression of invasive breast cancer has been

reported, with a recent literature review identifying 32 reported cases.

This is a relatively small number given such a common disease. However,

as some observers have pointed out, the fact that documented

observations are rare does not mean that regression rarely occurs. It

may instead reflect the fact that these cancers are rarely allowed to

follow their natural course. "

In an editorial in the Archives of Internal Medicine that accompanies

the breast cancer study, M. Kaplan, Ph.D., of the University of

California, Los Angeles, and Franz Porzsolt, M.D., Ph.D., of Clincal

Economics University of Ulm, Germany, wrote that the most important

concern raised by the study is " how surprisingly little we know about

what happens to untreated patients with breast cancer.

In addition to not knowing the natural history of breast cancer for

younger women, we also know very little about the natural history for

older women. We know from autopsy studies that a significant number of

women die without knowing that they had breast cancer (including ductal

carcinoma in situ). The observation of a historical trend toward

improved survival does not necessarily support the benefit of treatment. "

--

ne Holden, MS, RD

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

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