Screening for Cancer in Elderly Fuels Fight

By RONI CARYN RABIN New York Times Published: July 8, 2008 So far, large clinical trials focused on the benefits of screening for breast cancer have ignored the booming population of elderly women. A recent study that tried to assess the usefulness of mammography among 80- and 90-year-olds found that very few women in this age group, 22 percent, underwent regular screenings for breast cancer, but that those who did were more likely to find the cancer early enough to avoid a mastectomy and survive at least five years. But the study may raise more questions than it answers. Some experts dispute any suggestion that all elderly women should have annual mammograms — an idea that raises the specter of frail women being dragged from nursing home beds to be screened for cancer when they are far more likely to die of heart disease or complications from a broken hip.