New law boosts breast, cervical cancer screening

Almost 500,000 low-income, uninsured and underinsured women are expected to receive breast and cervical cancer screenings this year through an early-detection program President Bush agreed to extend last month.

The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 authorizes a gradual funding increase from today's $202 million to $275 million by 2012. This would allow an additional 130,000 women to be served, according to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

The program covers breast examinations, mammograms, Pap tests, surgical consultations, referrals and diagnostic screening for low-income women not on Medicaid. States also can use Medicaid funds to treat women diagnosed through the initiative.

The effort, which has served almost 3 million women since its inception in the early 1990s, has covered almost 7 million screenings for cervical and breast cancers combined, the latter of which is the most common cancer among women, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Extending the act another five years was both a personal and public victory, said bill co-sponsor Rep. Sue Myrick (R, N.C.), a breast cancer survivor who has been in remission for eight years. "It makes me feel good because it saves lives."

According to the CDC, almost 400,000 women were screened for breast cancer through the program in 2005, and almost 5,000 incidences of cancer were found. About 341,000 women were screened for cervical cancer, and almost 5,000 cervical lesions were found.

Without such coverage, "at least half would have been diagnosed on their deathbed," said Otis Brawley, MD, professor of hematology, oncology and medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, who sits on the CDC's Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection and Control Advisory Committee.

Dr. Brawley, who also is chief of hematology and oncology services and the medical director of the Georgia Cancer Coalition Center at Grady Memorial Hospital, said he would like to see the effort expanded to include colon cancer for men and women.

"How many federal programs can you name where you can quantify how many lives you've touched in a positive way and how many lives were saved?" he asked.

The government and medical community need to do a better job publicizing the program, Dr. Brawley said. "It's not reaching nearly as many people as one would hope."

Myrick agrees that more public education is necessary. "We have a hard time getting people to know it's there." She said some of the extra money targeted for the program may be used to raise public awareness.

The American Medical Association supports legislation that ensures adequate funding for mammography services and believes that sufficient payment for Pap smears is imperative.

As currently funded, the program can serve about one in five eligible women, according to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, which led the lobbying effort for reauthorization. The group will be urging Congress to honor the new funding levels called for in the law.

"Everyone deserves a chance to beat cancer, regardless of their insurance or financial status," said Daniel E. Smith, the network's president.