Ms. Angelina Jolie’s recent decision to prophylactically
have a double mastectomy reminds us of the high level of concern regarding
breast cancer.
In part,
implicit in her decision is the accurate understanding that screening mammograms
may not be efficient at identifying the most virulent breast cancers when they
are potentially curable. Mammograms are
best at identifying breast cancer tissue types where later diagnosis would only
minimally affect prognosis.
Malignant
melanomas are quite different from the above scenario; early diagnosis almost
uniformly dictates long term cure. In
the case of melanomas (and also colonoscopy diagnoses which also save lives) we
can identify early signs in pigmented growths which allows us to remove them in
a curative stage. Yearly full cutaneous exams with your dermatologist are a
smart thing to do.
