Breast self-examinations and clinical breast examinations by a physician appear to do equally well at detecting breast cancer tumors at about the same size, according to a new study. However, a clinical examination seems to be better for discovering tumors in older women.
Researchers in Switzerland looked at the records of 948 women who were treated for cancer there between 1990 and 2009. They looked for information about the size of tumors, their location and how they were detected. Doctors found the tumors in 236 of the women, while 712 women found their tumors themselves. Both methods found the same number of tumors in the same locations and at a similar size, just under an inch across (22 millimeters).
However, women who found the tumor themselves were age 60 on average while the women whose tumors were detected by a doctor's examination were age 66 on average.
Both the women themselves and physicians found tumors in the central area of the breast at a larger size, 25 millimeters across compared to tumors 19 to 21 millimeters across that were found in the outer areas of the breast. The study recommended that both women and doctors pay closer attention to the central area when performing breast examinations.
Monthly breast self examination was one strongly encouraged for all women. However, large clinical trials found that it was not effective at preventing deaths due to breast cancer and caused women harm because of needless biopsies and surgeries. It tends to cause a lot of false alarms, especially among younger women. Now, the American Cancer Society says that doing self examinations is the woman's choice. The society recommends that all women have a breast examination by their doctors one every three years between the ages of 20 and 40 and every year after that.
Most women should start having mammograms done annually at age 40, according to the American Cancer Society. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, however, recommends that women begin having mammograms done at age 50 and every two years after that.