Mammograms for Women Over 40

* “Scientific Consensus Grows in the Mammogram Dispute” (editorial, March 25) addresses the recent decision by the American Cancer Society to recommend routine annual mammograms for women in their 40s.

The editorial implies that HMOs do not cover annual mammograms for women in their 40s. The facts are that 98% of all HMOs in the nation already provide routine mammograms for women in their 40s, while 100% of HMOs in the nation provide routine mammograms for women age 50 and older. Under the California Health and Safety Code, California health plans do provide mammograms, for any age, upon referral by a qualified health care professional.

MYRA C. SNYDER, President

California Assn. of Health

Plans, Sacramento

* I am a prime example of why women in their 40s need to have annual mammograms. I am 42 and have been having annual mammograms for the last few years. They have been normal until my most recent one, in which a small area of calcium deposits was seen in my right breast. A biopsy showed this to be malignant and I underwent a lumpectomy two weeks ago. Fortunately for me, it was a very small lump and hadn’t had time to spread. It is 95% curable with just the lumpectomy and radiation.

My doctor told me the cancer was fast-growing and if I had waited another year to have a screening mammogram, the lump could have been much larger and might have spread enough to be life- threatening.

The battle over whether women in their 40s should have annual mammograms is about statistics. Sure, some tumors are missed by mammograms, and some may have already spread by the time a woman has a mammogram. But in my case, I am glad I didn’t think about statistics.

JANE SCHRENZEL

Lake Forest