UW News

December 10, 2009

New guidelines for breast cancer screening: Understanding the controversy

In November the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released new guidelines for breast cancer screening. The delivery of the guidelines coupled with intense media attention has generated confusion among patients, health-care professionals, and lawmakers. A national debate over how to interpret the guidelines is ongoing.


Next week a free event featuring a UW interdisciplinary panel will attempt to bring order to the discussion and make sense out of the controversy surrounding the new breast cancer screening guidelines.


The panel discussion will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 17, in Hogness Auditorium at the UW Health Sciences Center. Everyone is welcome.


The event, part of the UW Institute of Translational Health Sciences Interdisciplinary Grand Rounds series, is titled, “Breast Cancer Screening –The New Guidelines: Can We Make Sense out of the Controversy?”


The moderator will be Dr. Joann G. Elmore, UW professor of medicine, and section head, Division of General Internal Medicine at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle.


The panel will include:


  • Dr. Alfred O. Berg, UW professor of family medicine, Family Medicine Research Section, and former chair, United States Preventive Services Task Force.
  • Dr. Paul Fishman, associate investigator, Group Health Research Institute, and UW affiliate associate professor of health services
  • Dr. Constance Lehman, UW professor of radiology, and director of Breast Imaging, Seattle Cancer Care  Alliance
  • Dr. Diana L. Miglioretti, senior investigator, Group Health Research Institute, and UW affiliate associate professor of biostatistics


You can also attend the event online. The free software, Adobe Acrobat ConnectNow add-in, is required. The discussion will also be webcast live at uwtv.org, and the program will be broadcast on UWTV at a later date.