Affiliations: [a] Department of Radiology, Breast Imaging Center, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA | [b] Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA | [c] Department of Radiology, University of California San Francisco Medical School, San Francisco, CA, USA | [d] Department of Radiology, Wishard Memorial Hospital, University of Indiana Medical School, Indianapolis, IN, USA | [e] Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, MO, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Stephen A. Feig, Department of Radiology, Breast Imaging Center, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, 1100 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107-5563, USA. Tel.: +1 215 955-7253; Fax: +1 215 923-7651
Abstract: Proof of the benefit for mammographic screening of women ages 40–49 years is now available. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted in Gothenburg and Malmo, Sweden have shown statistically significant breast cancer mortality reductions of 36% and 45% respectively. A meta-analysis of all five Swedish trials has found a statistically significant mortality reduction of 29% for woman in this age group. Substantially greater reductions in mortality would likely have resulted if women in these trials had been screened annually. Because the benefits are substantial, and the risks from screening are relatively small and acceptable, screening mammography beginning at age 40 is now recommended by the American Cancer Society, as well as the National Cancer Institute.
DOI: 10.3233/BD-1998-103-404
Journal: Breast Disease, vol. 10, no. 3-4, pp. 13-21, 1998
