The practice of breast self-examination was recently put under attack after a new study suggested the self-check does not lower the death rate for breast cancer.

Dr. David B. Thomas, a cancer researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, carried out a study of 266,000 female factory workers in Shanghai, China. Half of the group learned proper breast self-examination techniques and performed them monthly, while the other half received no such information. The study proved there is no difference in the death rate from breast cancer between the two groups, according to Thomas.

The study raises questions over the importance of teaching the breast self-examination against the importance of simply promoting clinical examinations.

Dr. Scott Spear, director of clinical services at University Health Services, said this type of research is important because it questions how beneficial the technique can be for women.

Despite the results of the study, Spear advocates the self-test for women because he sees it as a method to find present cancer.

Cathy Anderson, a local breast-cancer survivor, feels it is important for women to continue using the breast self-examination but to also use a program incorporating regular clinical examinations and mammograms.

“Until they come up with something different, the three-step program is what’s really important,” Anderson said.

Although Anderson was diagnosed 23 years ago in a clinical exam, she strongly advocates that women conduct breast self-exams monthly.

“If you start doing it young, then you are familiar with your breasts and what’s good for you,” Anderson said.

In order for women to test for breast cancer, they need to understand exactly how to perform the first step — the breast self-examination, Anderson said.

According to information provided by the American Cancer Society, women above age 20 should perform the self-examination about a week after their periods end. Women should first lie down on a pillow with their arm behind their head and use their three middle fingers to press firmly in a circular, up-and-down or wedge motion. They should repeat on the opposite breast and continue the examination in an upright position, being sure to check the upper and outer parts of the breast.

Despite medical insistence on performing the test, University of Wisconsin freshman Andrea Hummitzsch said most young women ignore examinations because they do not know enough about the test and associate breast cancer with an older generation.

Hummitzsch thinks regardless of the study and the lack of knowledge, the breast self-examination should be promoted.

“I think it should always be taught, and [even if] it did not work out during the study, self-breast exams can always save at least one person,” she said.