Controversy Over Breast Cancer Screening for Women Over 80 Underscores Lack of Evidence-Based Cancer Care for Older Americans

December 9, 2008

A lack of clear-cut, scientific evidence illustrating the benefits of mammography screening in women over 80 has created a trail of controversy leading to a disturbing conclusion about cancer care in America. “We are ill-prepared from a scientific knowledge perspective to provide cancer health care rationally, ethically, equitably and humanely to the ‘booming’ older population,” two leading cancer researchers said.

In an editorial published online on December 9 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), Jeanne S. Mandelblatt, Associate Director for Population Sciences at Lombardi, and co-author Rebecca Silliman, of Boston University Medical Center, address the lack of scientific evidence available regarding cancer screening interventions for older Americans – an issue at the heart of a controversial breast cancer screening study published in the JCO earlier this year.

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