DANVILLE -- Recent advice to discontinue breast self-exams seemed like heresy to women who've been performing them for years.
These women believed that this simple, non-invasive and free procedure was a valid way to detect breast cancer in its early stages. The American Cancer Society advocated in the past for breast self-exams.
But a July report from the Cochrane Collaboration, a prestigious international group that evaluates medical research all over the world, advised women that such exams served little or no purpose. In fact, the report suggested that breast self-exams might have caused more problems than they detected, sending women for unnecessary biopsies that could scar them both physically and emotionally.
As with any study that seems to contradict the conventional wisdom, health consumers need to check with their medical providers to determine what's best for them.
Dr. Jo-Mel Labayog, medical director of Provena United Samaritans Regional Cancer Center, and Karen Schildt, RNC, CNM in obstetrics and gynecology at Carle Clinic -- Danville on Fairchild, gave their opinions about the recent study. They reached similar conclusions about how women should proceed with self-exams.
Culture clash
Labayog said, "The population used in the studies was Chinese and Russian women. You can't always compare one country to another. For those women, (breast self-exams) might be the only tool available."
Schildt agreed. "The research for this study was done in other countries," she said. "It may not have relevance here."
Schildt added, "In China, for example, the individual considers her/himself as their own primary health-care provider."
For an American woman, self-examination is just one option that's available for early detection. Others include clinical breast exams for women in their 20s and 30s as part of a regular exam by a health expert and annual mammograms for women age 40 or older.
Cons
However, the American Cancer Society made self-exams an option rather than a recommendation in 2003.
MayoClinic.com said one con of self-exams is that a follow-up biopsy may be performed and then deemed unnecessary.
"If the biopsy results are non-cancerous," according to the group's Web site, "you might feel that you've undergone an invasive procedure unnecessarily."
ACS advised women that "it's OK not to do (breast self-exams) or not to do it on a fixed schedule."
The cancer information group said those women who do examine their own breasts should immediately report any breast changes to their health care professional.
Pros
Labayog assured patients that "breast biopsies are now a minimally invasive procedure. They don't disfigure the breast.
"With breast cancer, as with any other type of cancer, patients should use all the tools available. That includes (breast self-exams)," he said.
"If anything out of the ordinary is detected, the next step is an appointment with their health care provider. That person will determine what other options should be utilized next.
"No one single test or method of detection will tell you if cancer is present," Labayog said. "Even mammograms aren't foolproof. All modalities must be used for diagnostic purposes."
The ACS weighed in similarly.
"While mammograms can miss some cancers, they are still a very good way to find breast cancer," according to the group's Web site.
"People read a headline or a line in a story and don't read the rest. 'Breast self-exams ineffective' was all they saw," Schlidt said. "The question to ask is 'Does this practice reduce deaths from a particular disease?'
"Any palpable mass should be investigated further," she said. "They are your breasts. Pay attention to them."
Copyright (c) 2008, Commercial-News, Danville, Ill.
