Breast Cancer Detection: Help for Making Your Own Decision!
The value of mammograms for women between the ages of 40 and 49 has come under scrutiny by the US Preventive Services Task Force, a group convened by the Public Health Service in 1984 to evaluate clinical research and assess the merits of preventive measures, including screening tests. The uproar this has caused in women who have survived cancer found in their 40s, many physicians, and the general public has been huge. Mammogram screening has taken time to become part of the routine tests that many women seek out to improve their health. The new guidelines make a confusing decision even more complicated. Many women know that if they have a family history of breast cancer they should get mammograms, but how should this new information be incorporated?
Fortunately, the Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, stated that this will not change the payment for mammogram screenings by Medicare or Medicaid. However, most women between 40 and 49 are not covered by Medicaid and are certainly not eligible for Medicare yet. Some private insurance companies have already stated that they will rely on the Task Force’s recommendations to make their policies. Data from the National Cancer Institute shows that 17% of cancer deaths occur in women in their 40s.
Obtaining more information for making the right choice on whether to have a mammogram is available. A BioMarker Translation Test is available at select ANY LAB TEST NOW® locations that will let you know if you have an increased likelihood of invasive breast cancer. The information that you can obtain from this test, whether you have insurance or not, can be used in conjunction with your family history, personal history and doctor’s advice to make this critical decision and convince your insurance company that a mammogram may be medically necessary for you.
Additional tests available at Any Lab Test Now include the CA 27.29 and the CA 15-3. The CA 27.29 can be used to monitor treatment, recurrences, and status of cancer. Some studies have said that this can diagnosis cancer, but it should not be used as a diagnostic tool. The CA 15-3 is not considered sensitive enough to be used as a screening tool, but is used to diagnosis recurrences and to monitor breast cancer treatment. This test is not usually used until breast cancer has metastasized. If you have not been diagnosed with cancer, these tests should be used in conjunction with a mammogram and consultation with your doctor.
The Task Force’s recommendations help women to take a closer look at how they decide which preventive treatments and screenings they should have. It helps to know that there are ways to see through the confusion toward your own personal choice.