Breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer in women. It is one of the top 10 causes of death for women in the United States. And by the close of 2009, the American Cancer Society estimates that more than 40,000 women will die from the disease in this country.

To say it’s a serious concern for women would be putting it mildly.

That’s why the findings released by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are so disconcerting. We think Cranston resident Barbara Manni was right on target when she said that the task force isn’t looking at the situation from the right perspective. Breaking down the numbers can be tough, with inconclusive evidence on both sides of the argument and each cancer patient following such a different path. So the conclusion drawn by the group isn’t set in stone.

The factor that should serve as a tipping point, then, is the human perspective. It’s been said by commentators on television and radio and in print, that the recommendations read like a cost-benefit analysis, with costs being peoples’ lives and benefits being money spared. They had to have known there would be pushback from this.

“With its new recommendations, the USPSTF is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives; just not enough of them,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, the chief medical officer at the ACS.

Marlene McCarthy from the Rhode Island Breast Cancer Coalition does present an interesting point, however. She is a breast cancer survivor herself, but the way she sees it, the risks involved in mammography screenings have long been downplayed to begin with. Also, the guidelines don’t apply to individuals with risk factors. That fact has been entirely blown over in the hysteria immediately following last week’s announcement.

It’s true that in the dialogue of awareness, you rarely read about the countless false alarms and unnecessary biopsies. The sense of fear that instills in a woman is undeniable. It can set off a lifetime of unease, a question lingering in the back of the mind.

Still, if the option is risk a life or a few sleepless nights, the task force might have spoken too soon.