The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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November 28, 2009

Your View: Breast cancer advice off track

Shirley Murray, Mankato

Thanks to the area health providers who’ve been willing to speak out against the new proposed breast cancer screening guidelines.

I am among the many women grateful to have had screening that helped them identify breast cancer while it was still treatable. Studies show that breast cancer in younger women tends to be harder to detect and also more aggressive, making the use of all tools to screen even more important.

The screening tools we have are far from perfect, but without them, we are writing off the lives of many women who could be helped with their use. Whether these new guidelines were driven by money, politics, or inadequate research is unclear, but what is clear is that they are potentially dangerous if they lead women to avoid mammography, breast self-exams and other recommended procedures, and even more dangerous if they lead insurers to quit paying for these life-saving procedures.

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