The Importance of Breast Self-Exams:
They Can Succeed when Mammography Fails

On June 27, 2001, the Canadian Task Force for Preventative Health Care recommended that women aged 40 to 69 not be taught to conduct self-exams. The panel of doctors found no correlation between reduced mortality rates and self-examination education in that age group and concluded that self-examination might cause more harm than good. The panel feared that the stress caused by the discovery of unexplained lumps could harm women's health.

The Breast Cancer Fund adds its voice to a growing chorus of U.S. breast cancer groups that are urging women to continue using self-exams as an integral part of their detection efforts.

Forty percent of breast cancers are discovered by women or their partners. Regular self-exams help women learn the landscape of their own bodies so that they notice the slightest change. They send women to the doctor. And they can help detect breast cancers that mammograms miss.

Unfortunately, mammography, which has been the gold-standard for breast cancer screening for 50 years, is neither fail-safe nor risk-free. Until we develop a safe, foolproof and accessible screening method for breast cancer, self-exams are an irreplaceable element in the early detection tool kit.

Many breast cancer experts agree that self-exams offer a safe complement to mammography, which exposes women to radiation, a known carcinogen, and fails to detect around 20 percent of breast cancers in older and as much as 40 percent in younger women whose breast tissue is more dense.

The Breast Cancer Fund has long supported the development of alternative screening methods and encourages women to incorporate self- and clinical exams into their detection program. The issue is personal well as political: The Breast Cancer Fund's founder, Andrea R. Martin, underwent mammograms every six months for three years after she discovered pre-cancerous calcium deposits in her breast. The mammograms failed to detect the cancer that ultimately forced Martin to have her first mastectomy.

There's no simple answer to the detection conundrum and there's no substitute for vigilance. Women should use all the detection tools at their disposal while we explore safe, reliable alternatives to mammography. But let's also remember that detection does not equal prevention. We must also set our sights on eliminating the preventable causes of the disease, including those in the environment.