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Screening is still key to fighting cancer

We have all heard the mantra: Early detection is the key to fighting cancer. That's why last week's recommendations for less screening for breast and cervical cancer took us by surprise.

Doctors have stressed the need for self-examinations, pap smears and mammograms for years. Advocates have fought hard to pass bills in state legislatures, including Illinois, to require insurers to cover mammograms for women 40 and older.

The American Cancer Society stresses that if cancer is found while it's localized, there's a far better chance of survival.

Now, the Preventive Services Task Force suggests routine mammograms for women in their 40s and thorough breast self-examinations result in unnecessary tests and surgeries. Then the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists suggested pap smears don't need to start until age 21 and don't need to happen every year for women in their 20s.

It's no wonder the news feels like a step backward for those who have worked hard to pass laws and encourage women to get annual pap smears and mammograms.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius quickly distanced herself from the task force, noting the panel does not set policy.

But the debate turned immediately political, with health care reform foes accusing the government of cutting back recommended care as Congress is debating the cost of government-backed insurance. Health reform advocates note the panel only considers scientific evidence without regard to cost, and its announcement has no relationship to the current debate in Congress.

Unfortunately, this political subtext has shifted the focus away from the substance of the recommendations issued by the panel, which was ironically established in 1984 to weigh public health issues outside of the political arena.

We urge women to look at the substance of the report, which ultimately agrees more lives are saved when women in their 40s receive annual mammograms. Specifically, the report says they save one life in every 1,904 of these women. For women in their 50s, scans are more successful, saving one life in every 1,339 women. The conclusion was based solely on numbers, questioning whether the lives saved outweigh the undue stress of unnecessary follow-ups in healthy women. The panel was weighing statistics.

Most of us probably know someone whose breast cancer was found only because of a routine mammogram or monthly self-exam. We know statistics don't tell the whole story.

It's up to our leaders in government to take those statistics and make policy.

We urge Illinois lawmakers to preserve the existing law that requires insurers to cover mammograms for women in their 40s.

And we encourage women to continue getting annual cancer screenings. Don't use the news that some experts question the need for annual mammograms and pap smears as a reason to put off your next appointment.

Even if the chance of it saving a life is only one in 1,904, it's worth it if the life is yours.