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Original poster

Mammograms pre 50 - would you?

38 replies

Homebird8 · 11/02/2009 20:18

I've spent some of this afternoon talking with a knowledgable and pleasant consultant at the hospital about whether to take up their offer of annual mammograms from my 40th birthday due to my mum having got breast cancer when she was 39. Any of you made the same decision and which way did you go?

OP posts:
andlipsticktoo · 11/02/2009 20:20

Given the choice, I would.

MadamDeathstare · 11/02/2009 20:22

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CoteDAzur · 11/02/2009 20:25

I had a mammogram at age 35 and would have had one last year (age 37) if pregnancy didn't come along.

My paternal aunt had breast cancer & had double mastectomy.

SobranieCocktail · 11/02/2009 20:26

Apparently I will be offered mammograms from when I'm 35. Mym Mum developed breast cancer when she was 48. I'll definitely be going for them!

BlaDeBla · 11/02/2009 20:44

Go for it! They're not very nice, but if something is wrong, it's better to get it sooner than later. It is not always possible to feel if something is wrong.

oldraver · 12/02/2009 17:12

I would go for it if offered and I dont have any history of breast cancer in the family. I think they should be offered from a younger age to all

Yes definately go for it with there being a history

Original poster
Homebird8 · 18/02/2009 22:33

The 35 thing is interesting. Is there a postcode lottery? My sister is in a different area and younger than me but still over 35. I'm only being offered the mammograms from when I'm 40 in September.

There are issues of lots of false positives in younger women and no evidence to say that breast cancers are found with reliability using mammography before the age of 50. I'm still umming and aahing about it.

OP posts:
shonaspurtle · 18/02/2009 22:37

Is this because your relatives developed breast cancer at a younger age?

My mum was diagnosed with bc last year aged 60. I've not told my doctor, didn't think of myself as being at increased risk - she's my only relative to be diagnosed with it. I'm 36.

KerryMumbles · 18/02/2009 22:39

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BecauseImWorthIt · 18/02/2009 22:40

My mum died from advanced breast cancer at the age of 66. I went to see my GP who referred me to the Genetics Clinic at St George's hospital, Tooting. From the age of 46 I have been offered a mammogram every year, with a follow up physical exam at the Genetics Clinic.

Why wouldn't you take up the offer, if you have had breast cancer in your family?

catMandu · 18/02/2009 22:41

I had one last year when I was 39 and have been offered them from my 40th onwards. Both my Grandmothers had breast cancer although my Mum's generation haven't so I'm not considered to be a high risk. Even so, I will go annually - it won't change the likeliness of me getting it, but it will mean that if it does happen it'll be picked up earlier.

The only thing that's annoying is that you have to go and ask for it each year, so it's easily overlooked.

Original poster
Homebird8 · 18/02/2009 22:42

My mum got breast cancer at 39 and that's how old I am now. Just thought I'd ask the question about screening to my GP and wheels turned and now I'm being offered mammography.

The radiation is an interesting issue. Apparently, with digital mammography you get about as much radiation as taking a flight to Australia would give you. We all book flights without realising the extra radiation we're subjected to but we all think about the risks of radiation from mammography. Hmm

OP posts:
southeastastra · 18/02/2009 22:47

agree with becauseimworthit my mum got it in her early 50s, coming up to my 40s now of course i think it should be routine.

wrongsideof40 · 18/02/2009 22:48

In the US it is recommended that all women start screening at 40 - I would definitely go for it - I work with someone who had annual screening fom 35 due to a strong family history- she was diagnosed with cancer at 42 (before she had felt a a lump)

BecauseImWorthIt · 18/02/2009 22:48

I would go for it. Really. By the time a lump is big enough for you to feel it, it could already be too invasive/big/aggressive. IM(mum's)E

Heated · 18/02/2009 22:51

It's been agreed I will be having mammograms from 40, although I believe in the US they also offer MRI even though it offers more false positives. Elective mastectomy has also be mentioned to me.

Original poster
Homebird8 · 20/02/2009 16:57

Has anyone heard the debate today about Ductile Cancer In Situ? Apparently there are cancers which whilst they are there, never fully develop resulting in chemo and radiotherapy, surgery and hormone treatment in women who don't necessarily need it. However, there's no knowing which of these DCIS cancers will / won't develop!

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corblimeymadam · 20/02/2009 17:16

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galleyslave · 20/02/2009 17:23

PLEASE DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had one in November, work paid for it. I was found to have breast cancer and am in the middle of treatment. If I had waited for the mammo at 50 it would have been well advanced and my oncologist said i may well have still not noticed it.

It saved my life.

themildmanneredjanitor · 20/02/2009 17:24

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corblimeymadam · 20/02/2009 17:24

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galleyslave · 20/02/2009 17:34

Thanks bb! I really feel lucky, and yes the earlier the better. Thats why for me its a no brainer

x x

Othersideofthechannel · 20/02/2009 17:37

Yes, they do them routinely after the age of 35 here in France.

Original poster
Homebird8 · 20/02/2009 18:53

OSOTC is there any French research to show a cost benefit of screening so young? One of the things I've been told is that as there are so few cancers to find so young it's cheaper to let them come to a head and treat them then than screen everyone. I know for the individuals concerned it's nuts but those are the constraints of the NHS.

OP posts:
Lizzzombie · 20/02/2009 19:10

Does anyone know where to find out if your local health authority offer earlier mammograms, or is it just a case of asking your GP?

I have a history of breast cancer on both sides of my family and my aunt died of an aggressive strain when she was 47. The type of cancer that it was has now prompted my cousin at 45 to get a full hysterectomy and consider a double mastectomy just in case she gets it. This absolutely terrifies me.

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