Posted on behalf of Judith
Not sure where to put this. There have been a few articles online recently saying the breast cancer screening can cause ‘overdiagnosis’ and lead to ‘unnecessary’ breast cancer treatment. The articles talk of treatment of cancers ‘that would have done no harm’. I don’t get this. I had a mastectomy for breast cancer (found lump myself, not via screening) nearly two years ago at age 46 and am now on Tamoxifen. I did not need chemotherapy or radiotherapy, thanks heavens, lucky me. There was only 3 millimetres of invasive cancer, it was only just out of the milk ducts. Does this mean it was overdiagnosed and overtreated and would have done no harm? I’d hate to think I might have lost my breast for now good reason. - Judith
Hi Judith. First, sorry that you haven’t had any replies yet. (There are currently some problems with this forum that mean that sometimes, a new post doesn’t get into the section that other members are looking at, and a reply helps to “bump” things up so that more people see it.)
Your question was posted on your behalf by someone on BCC - I think this is usual practice for new users - so before I read the post, I thought it was an official statement by BCC…
Judith, you do raise a very important concern. I was diagnosed in 2006 by routine screening (my 3rd NHS mammogram) - I’d had no lump, no symptoms - and I can honestly say that it saved my life… because the cancer had already spread beyond the breast when I was diagnosed. (This is not very common but can happen - almost always there are good treatments to keep the disease under control, and I’m currently doing well six years later.)
Sorry about a long essay but I hope this helps!
MrsBlue
Judith, I think some of the overdiagnosis thing refers to DCIS, which is a very early form of BC which hasn’t developed the ability to spread. However, you did have IDC, albeit very small, and IDC DOES spread. So in brief, I don’t believe you were “over-treated”. Just my personal opinion, of course, but you shouldn’t feel bad that you found a lump early and got it dealt with early, resulting in much less debilitating treatment than if you’d left it and it spread.
Hi Judith
Breast Cancer Care’s Clinical Director, Dr Emma Pennery, wrote about this issue here Search Results | Breast Cancer Now.
As she says at the end of her post, if you have concerns, please do call our Helpline on 0808 800 6000.
Hope that helps
Leah
Hi judith there was a thread a liitle while ago about screening. I’ve put a link below.
Best wishes Melxx
Hi Judith, I am so sorry you are concerned you’ve been put through the wringer for no real reason, but from all I have learned I don’t believe that is true. I hope that all the links have managed to put your concern to rest, but I think if I were still concerned, I would call my onc and ask for an appointment to talk to him/her about the decisions that were made and why.