Where is the apology for those mutilated?


That of all breast cancers now diagnosed in New South Wales, 23 to 29 per cent were "over-diagnosed" and could be ignored is shocking news.

The Age, reported on 13th November, that around one quarter of Australian women now undergoing breast cancer treatment are doing so because of tumours that are slowly growing and could have been safely ignored.

This is because women are being screened with overly sensitive equipment, capable of detecting very small and non progressive tumours. The author of a study into the introduction of routine breast screening for older women, Dr. Stephen Morrell, told The Age, that before screening for breast cancer was introduced, the cancer incidence among Australian women aged 50 to 69 years was about 150 cases per 100,000 in the population. With the advent of screening the incidence has jumped to almost 300 cancer diagnoses per 100,000 women.

This over-diagnosis is tragic, and results in unnecessary mutilating surgery and toxic drug treaments. Surely it is time for us to stop worrying about cancer and take our chances. Forget about feeling, prodding and probing, and just live as well as we can. Why look for trouble when it isn't there?