As reported in JAMA by Kevin C. Oeffinger, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has issued an update to its 2003 guideline on breast cancer screening for women at average risk of breast cancer.1 Robert A. Smith, PhD, of the Cancer Control Department, ACS, is the corresponding author of the JAMA article.
In formulating the updated recommendations, an ACS guideline development group selected the Duke University Evidence Synthesis Group to conduct an independent systematic evidence review of the breast cancer screening literature. The ACS also commissioned the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium to update previously published analyses of mammography screening interval and outcomes, and the ACS Surveillance and Health Services Research Program contributed supplementary data on disease burden using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program data.
Average Risk
Women at average risk were defined as those without a personal history of breast cancer, a confirmed or suspected genetic mutation known to be associated with increased risk (eg, BRCA), or a history of radiotherapy to the chest at a young age. The authors acknowledged that there also are women outside of these higher-risk categories who are at higher-than-average risk of breast cancer and for whom mammography screening alone may have reduced effectiveness, including those with significant family histories but who do not have a high probability of carrying identified risk mutations, those with a prior diagnosis of benign proliferative breast disease, and those with significant mammographic breast density.
The investigators noted: “At this time, there are no reliable estimates of the number of women who have one or more of these risk factors; nor are there widely accepted risk-based screening recommendations that differ for women in this intermediate-risk group compared with average-risk women.”
Evidence Synthesis
Key points from the evidence synthesis follow:
Updated Recommendations
The updated recommendations, designated as strong or qualified, are reproduced here. A strong recommendation indicates consensus that the benefits of adherence to an intervention outweigh the undesirable effects that may result from screening. A qualified recommendation indicates clear evidence of benefit of screening but less certainty about the balance of benefits and harms or about patient values and preferences, factors that could lead to different decisions about screening.
Women with an average risk of breast cancer should undergo regular screening mammography starting at age 45 years. (Strong Recommendation)
1a. Women aged 45 to 54 years should be screened annually. (Qualified Recommendation)
1b. Women 55 years and older should transition to biennial screening or have the opportunity to continue screening annually. (Qualified Recommendation)
1c. Women should have the opportunity to begin annual screening between the ages of 40 and 44 years. (Qualified Recommendation)
Women should continue screening mammography as long as their overall health is good and they have a life expectancy of 10 years or longer. (Qualified Recommendation)
The ACS does not recommend clinical breast examination for breast cancer screening among average-risk women at any age. (Qualified Recommendation)
The authors concluded: “These updated ACS guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for breast cancer screening for women at average risk of breast cancer. These recommendations should be considered by physicians and women in discussions about breast cancer screening.”
They continued:
[T]he ACS recommendations are made in the context of maximizing reductions in breast cancer mortality and reducing years of life lost while minimizing the associated harms among the population of women in the United States. The ACS recognizes that the balance of benefits and harms will be close in some instances and that the spectrum of women’s values and preferences will lead to varying decisions. The intention of this new guideline is to provide both guidance and flexibility for women about when to start and stop screening mammography and how frequently to be screened for breast cancer.” ■
Disclosure: This work was supported by the ACS. For full disclosures of the study authors, visit www.jama.jamanetwork.com.
Reference
1. Oeffinger KC, Fontham ET, Etzioni R, et al: Breast cancer screening for women at average risk: 2015 guideline update from the American Cancer Society. JAMA 314:1599-1614, 2015.
According to recent national headlines, the American Cancer Society (ACS) now recommends that women at average risk of breast cancer should “screen later and less often.”1 While the new ACS recommendations (summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post) might initially be taken as casting doubt on the...
For the past 30 years, mammography screening has been one of the most contentious issues in medicine. Controversy has generally centered on the age at which to begin mammography screening (40 vs 50 years) and also, to a lesser extent, on the age at which it should stop. The recent American Cancer...