While it may be true that 11 percent of mammograms result in false positives, it is also true that up to20 percent of mammograms result in false negatives. Which is worse? Because my mammograms had been normal, doctors thought I had a fibrocystic lump. Then I was diagnosed with lymph node positive breast cancer. The bottom line is get screened. This will save lives, maybe yours.
BARBARA TIPPINS
Temecula, Calif.
I am a firm believer in screening scans. In 2005, I had a scan that showed abnormalities in my right kidney. This led to a CT scan, a PET scan, and surgery. I had both papillary and clear cell cancer in my kidney. Both were stage one but graded aggressive. I had no symptoms of kidney cancer. My family doctor at Johns Hopkins said the medical community is divided about the value of screenings. I'm not.
DENNIS BURDICK
Bel Air, Md.
I applaud "To Screen-or Not?" Cancer detection and care are big business and not always beneficial to the patient or the patient's family. We need to accept when there is no more treatment or no good treatment for a cancer. Who would choose quantity of life over quality of life in their last years? Our job in medicine is to do no harm. The general public needs to be aware of the accepted knowns as well as the uncertainties of medicine. Ignorance can harm. Fear is expensive. Our national emphasis needs to be on healthy living and outlook, being happy, exercising, and wise decision making.
LYNNE E. MILLER, M.D.
Brewster, N.Y.
Corrections:
--"To Screen-or Not?" [April 23] misidentified neuroblastoma. It is in fact a malignant tumor of the sympathetic nervous system that frequently occurs in the abdomen and is the most common solid tumor in children after brain cancer.
-- A graphic accompanying "Toward a Safer Campus" [April 30] should have located the University of Arizona College of Nursing in Tucson.
--"Road Warriors" [May 7] commuter Kathy Kniss's average driving speed from home in Long Beach to an office in Culver City, Calif., is about 20 miles per hour.
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