As part of breast cancer awareness month, the American Society of Clinical Oncologists released its national opinion survey showing nearly 64% of respondents delayed or canceled routine cancer screenings due to the pandemic.
University of Kentucky Surgical Oncologist Dr. Erin Burke said when elective medical procedures were put on hold, mammograms dropped significantly. But, in the past few months, Burke said the numbers have returned to a more typical level. “We thought this was going to be a short thing that we could delay. We now know that the reality is that we’re going to have to kind of live through this. And as part of that we need to continue with our routine healthcare maintenance,” said Burke.
Burke said mammogram for the vast majority of women is the greatest tool to catch breast cancer early. The Markey Center oncologist noted women treated for early stage breast cancers have a survival rate of greater than 98%. For women without a family history of breast cancer, mammograms are recommended at age 40. “There are some women in high risk groups that do require more than that and we can calculate that risk for each individual patient to see if they qualify or need those more intensive screenings, for example, something like MRI of the breast,” explained Burke.
Burke added UK has taken all the precautions to ensure that patients are safe when undergoing screenings.
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