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Breast cancer screening doesn’t prevent deaths

01 April 2002

Mammographic screening has been used for years to supposedly detect the early stages of breast cancer. But a committee of US cancer experts - the Physician Data Query (PDQ) board - now says there is insufficient evidence to show that mammograms can prevent breast cancer deaths.

This has prompted the American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Cancer Society and American College of Preventive Medicine, among others, to rise to the defence of the mammogram, declaring that the procedure may not be perfect, but it has contributed significantly to the decline in breast cancer death.

Other authorities, such as the National Cancer Institute, waded into what became a raging debate on US television and newspapers throughout January and February.

However, rather than putting mammograms in the spotlight of a media circus, all this effort might have been better spent carrying out a major reassessment of the evidence surrounding mammography effectiveness (BMJ, 2002; 324: 432).

Breast cancer screening challenged - Annual mammograms do not reduce breast cancer deaths, say Canadian researchers. ...

Breast Cancer screening confusion - I am 63 and recently had my first breast mammogram. I was therefore very disturbed when I read the article "The Disease Women Fear Most" in the Januar...

Mammograms - Q:I am 47. My doctor is pressing me to have mammograms every other year. What evidence is there that it can help prevent cancer? M S, Hitchin. ...

Breast cancer screening - false positive results - I write to thank you for the the article on breast cancer (Vol 3 No 10).

The mammogram myth - How all our massive screening efforts for breast cancer can cause the very disease they are intended to detect. ...

Constant screening misses breast cancer - Mammograms are at their poorest in detecting breast cancer when the woman is under 50 and when the time between screenings is about two years. ...

Death rate plunge: not from screening - Health officials who have been congratulating their extensive mammogram screening programmes as the reason for the sudden drop in breast cancer deaths...

Breast screening: no benefit - While doctors consider stepping up breast cancer screening, new data has revealed a regularly screened woman who develops cancer is no better off than...

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Join the What Doctors Don't Tell You community now - and be informed for when it really matters

Breast cancer screening doesn’t prevent deaths

Join the What Doctors Don't Tell You community now -
and be informed for when it really matters