Benefits outweigh harms for breast cancer screening

Scimex: An international review of breast cancer screening has found the benefits outweigh the harms for women aged between 50 and 74. The review, which looked at 40 studies conducted in high-income countries, including Australia, found women aged between 50 and who attended mammography screening were around 40 per cent less likely to die of breast cancer, with several studies showing screening in women aged 70-74 also reduced mortality. However, the authors say there is not enough evidence to determine whether screening reduces mortality in women aged 40 to 49 years.

False breast cancer alarm has negative impact on health

Copenhagen: The psychological strain of being told that you may have breast cancer may be severe, even if it turns out later to be a false alarm. This is the finding of new research from the University of Copenhagen, which has just been published in the scientific journal Annals of Family Medicine. Researchers call for improving screening accuracy, thus reducing the number of false-positive mammograms.

Women with Dense Breasts May Not Need More Screening

UCSF: As the debate continues to swirl around the medical significance of dense breasts and whether extra screening should be done, a new study led by UC San Francisco has found that women with dense breasts may need only routine mammograms unless they are at high risk.
In their paper, the researchers said that five-year breast cancer risk is a critical component, and breast density should not be the sole factor in deciding whether supplemental screening is justified because not all women with dense breasts are at high risk of cancer.

New method detects more breast cancer in screening

Lund: Tomosynthesis detects 40% more breast cancers than traditional mammography does, according to a major screening study from Lund University, Sweden. This is the first large-scale study to compare the screening method with regular mammograms. The 3D X-ray technique is also more comfortable for women, as breast compression is halved. A total of 7 500 women aged 40–74 took part in the first half of the study, which formed the basis for the findings.