Women over age 75 should still receive routine mammograms, according to researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Investigators examined data on 12,038 female Medicare beneficiaries who were age 69 or older and had received a new diagnosis of breast cancer between 1995 and 1996.

The analysis showed that women age 75 and older tend to have fewer mammograms and have breast cancers that are larger and at a more advanced stage at the time of diagnosis than younger women.

After adjusting for the number of screening mammograms the women had in the two years prior to their diagnosis, researchers found that these older women who had two or more mammograms at least 11 months apart had cancers similar in size and stage to women in the younger group, suggesting a benefit of mammography in women after age 75.

"We know that one major factor contributing to the poor survival of older women with breast cancer is delay in diagnosis," said Dr. James S. Goodwin, professor of geriatric medicine and co-author of the study. "These results suggest that regular screening mammography in women 75 years of age and older helps diagnose breast cancer when it is smaller and at an earlier stage."

Goodwin stressed that regular mammography actually seemed to have a bigger effect on women over age 75 than it did in younger women, as women over age 75 who failed to receive regular mammograms had larger tumors than younger women who did not receive regular mammograms.

Other sources: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston