Opinion: The Katie Couric breast-cancer diagnosis: How often should you screen?
When Katie Couric recently revealed she had been diagnosed with and treated for Stage 1A breast cancer, she recounted that she was six months overdue on her annual mammogram and shuddered to think what might have happened if she had put off the screening longer.
So, while Couric’s doctor scheduled Couric for yearly mammograms, another physician using another protocol could have recommended them every other year. Then, Couric would have waited even longer for her screening, possibly allowing the tumor to grow larger and/or spread to other areas of her body and making the cancer harder to treat.
Because of Couric’s dense breast tissue, she received a 3D mammogram rather than the standard 2D mammogram. In 2D mammography, two X-ray images are taken of each breast, one from the top and one from the side. A 3D mammography takes multiple cross-sectional images of the breasts from several angles, improving cancer detection up to 40% more than 2D mammography.
Such extra screenings, however, are not universally advised. Some organizations such as the American College of Radiology recommend them in certain situations, but others, such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists do not, the general thinking being that research does not show that extra or different screening methods reduce breast cancer deaths in these women.
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