Local Champaign OB/GYN Suzanne Trupin,M.D., F.A.C.O.G. has been quoted in the article in the November 17th New York Times Health Section article “New Guidelines on Breast Cancer Draw Opposition” by Roni Caryn Rabin on the new recommendations on breast cancer screening from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that were published in the November 17, 2009, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
These guidelines are substantively different for the average risk for a woman and may immediately affect physician recommendations. Although the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to date have held firm on their prior guidelines, the USPSTF recommends against routine screening mammography in women 40 to 49 and doubles the intervals between routine exams for women over 50 to biennial exams.
Dr. Trupin responded that the new relaxed guidelines should result in a more focused method of identifying patients with cancer, her quotes can be accessed at nytimes.com/2009/11/17/health/17scre.html regarding the false positive and false negative results of testing and how testing procedures are performed. Many women need repeated extra confirmatory tests and biopsies to track screening abnormalities which are not cancerous. This has been extra anxiety, cost and in some cases danger from radiation exposure that has to be considered when recommending screening intervals.
Mammography is safe, appropriate as a screening tool for many women, and has saved many lives. When to get a mammogram is an important decision for each woman. Individualized evaluation and risk assessment for your risk of breast cancer should occur on an annual basis. Factors that we should consider will include: your personal and family history, hormone and medication use, nipple discharge, breast pain, cysts or masses, and prior breast surgery.
Women at a high risk due to lifestyle or family history may benefit from annual mammography, but the frequency of the procedures should be determined by the patient and her physician. For everyday patients these guidelines use the best scientific knowledge to bring individual decision making and, for some, what may turn out to be a bit of sanity back to the screening process.
Dr. Trupin, the CEO of the Women’s Health Practice and HADA Cosmetic Medicine, spends most of her time in the care of women. She is a Clinical Professor of OB-Gyn at the University of Illinois. She has over 25 years of medical practice and research field experience. The Women’s Health Practice, located at 2125 S. Neil, Champaign, has been providing health care to the Champaign region since 1945. Dr. Trupin joined the Practice in 1981, the same year she was appointed Head of the division of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the College of Medicine branch of the University of Illinois at Urbana, which she held for 19 years. She is regularly quoted in popular women’s magazines, writes for WebMD, and can be heard bimonthly on NPR’s WILL focus 580. Her popular twitter and blog sites are under the call name GynoGab. More information about the Women’s Health Practice can be found at www.womenshealthpractice.com or by calling (217) 356-3736.