Alicia Rose DelGallo, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- There is a hot debate in the medical community about whether the benefits of screening for breast cancer in your forties outweigh the risks. A study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America has found that women in this age group do benefit from annual mammography screening.

"We believe that women in their forties should have a screening mammogram every year," said study author Stamatia V. Destounis, M.D., radiologist and managing partner of Elizabeth Wende Breast Care, LLC, in Rochester, NY.

The debate was sparked in 2009 when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued breast cancer screening guidelines that recommended against routine screening for women in their forties.

"Every radiologist that specializes in breast cancer prevention was upset by these recommendations," Destounis said.

Since then, the government has said they will continue to follow previous guidelines, recommending screening, because of the backlash from community members, special interest groups, radiology specialists and the media, Destounis added.

To back up her belief, Destounis and colleagues conducted a retrospective review to identify the number and type of cancers diagnosed among women between the ages of 40 and 49. It included both women with and without a family history of breast cancer, who underwent screening mammography at Elizabeth Wende Breast Care from 2000 to 2010. . The researchers then compared the number of cancers, incidence of invasive disease and lymph node metastases between the groups

"In the 40 to 49 age group, we found a significant rate of breast cancer and similar rates of invasive disease in women with and without family history," Destounis was quoted as saying.

Of the 1,071 patients in the 40 to 49 age group with breast cancer, 373 were diagnosed as a result of screening. Of the 373, 39 percent had a family history, and 61 percent had no family history of breast cancer.

In the family history group, more than 63 percent of the patients had invasive disease, meaning immediate treatment was needed, and around 37 percent had noninvasive disease. The numbers were similar in the no family history group.

According to Destounis, results of the study underscore the importance of early detection and annual screening mammography for women between the ages of 40 and 49. They also help show the Task Force why.

"We were successful in saying, ‘wait this doesn’t work, you’re looking at the data wrong and this is why’," Destounis explained.

SOURCE: Radiological Society of America meeting held on November 29, 2011, interview with Dr. Destounis held on November 29, 2011