Better chances of recovery for breast cancer

Small tumors are recognized twice as often since the beginning of mammography screening

23.02.2012

Within the framework of the German Cancer Congress in Berlin, the Cooperation Community Mammography presented an evaluation of their data for the second time after the introduction of the largest European mammography screening program. Since the start of the program in 2005, doctors have diagnosed about twice as many small tumors as before, according to the evaluation report. The mammography screening in Germany is on the right track.

Early detection of tumors increases the chances of recovery
In Germany, women between the ages of 50 and 69 are entitled to a free breast cancer screening every two years. However, according to the Cooperation Community Mammography, only about one in two women, 54 percent, currently use this precautionary option. Patients often consult a doctor only when symptoms appear or a self-tattooed tumor. Then the tumors are usually already very large, so that the prognosis is correspondingly bad. In mammography examinations, even very small, not yet palpable changes in the breast tissue are detected. The earlier breast cancer is detected, the greater the chances of successful treatment. „The best prospects for a successful treatment of breast cancer exist for women with small tumors that have not spread. If the cancer has spread, we can often only extend life, "explains Karin Bock, head of the Mammografie Südwest reference center in Marburg.

Breast cancer is the most common malignant cancer in women in Germany. According to the Robert Koch Institute from the year 2010 about 17,000 people die each year from breast cancer. With age, the risk of developing breast cancer increases.

Mammography screening program shows great success
Before the mammography screening program was introduced, tumors were detected in about two to three out of every 1,000 women examined. Thanks to early detection, today there are already eight out of every 1,000 women. Prior to screening, only 14 percent of small tumors smaller than a pinhead were diagnosed. Meanwhile, however, 30 to 35 percent of these small tumors are discovered. As a result, the proportion of dangerous metastatic tumors, which are about the size of a cherry, has fallen from 40 percent to 19 percent in follow-up examinations and 23 percent in initial examinations. Invasive tumors that grow and metastasize to the surrounding tissue include about 80 percent of the tumors detected by the screening. In 75 percent of these malignant tumors, the women's lymph nodes were not yet involved in the initial examination. In the follow-up investigation, it was even 79 percent.

„On the basis of reliable data, it is once again demonstrated that the German mammography screening program is on a very good path and that the quality assurance that has so far been unique for early detection measures is taking effect“, reports Thorsten Kolterjahn, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Mammography Cooperation Group. (Ag)

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