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Article: Breast cancer self-exams 'do more harm than good'
- Article from:
- The Scotsman
- Article date:
- July 16, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2008 The Scotsman. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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ENCOURAGING women to systematically examine themselves for signs
of breast cancer does not reduce deaths from the disease, a major
review of the evidence showed yesterday.
Many women practise a rigid routine of checking their breasts on
a regular basis to see if there are any lumps that might indicate
they have cancer.
But the review by researchers at the Cochrane Collaboration - an
international body that assesses the combined results of medical
studies - has concluded there is no evidence that systematic self-
exams actually reduce breast cancer deaths. They also said the
common practice could do more harm than good, with more women having
to undergo biopsies on lumps that do not turn ...