Do the benefits of screening mammography outweigh the harms of overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment?

Medical Journal of Australia

Volumn 196, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 17-

  Bell, Robin J ^a   Burton, Robert C ^a  

^a MONASH UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ANTHRACYCLINE DERIVATIVE; TAMOXIFEN;

AGE; ARTICLE; AUSTRALIA; BREAST CANCER; CANCER ADJUVANT THERAPY; CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY; CANCER DIAGNOSIS; CANCER HORMONE THERAPY; CANCER MORTALITY; CANCER SCREENING; DIAGNOSTIC ERROR; HUMAN; MAMMOGRAPHY; OVERDIAGNOSIS; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (TOPIC); RISK BENEFIT ANALYSIS; TREATMENT OUTCOME;

AUSTRALIA; BREAST NEOPLASMS; COMBINED MODALITY THERAPY; DIAGNOSTIC ERRORS; EARLY DETECTION OF CANCER; FEMALE; HUMANS; MAMMOGRAPHY; MASS SCREENING; MORBIDITY; REPRODUCIBILITY OF RESULTS; RISK FACTORS; SURVIVAL RATE; UNNECESSARY PROCEDURES;

EID: 84857884638     PISSN: 0025729X     EISSN: 13265377     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5694/mja11.11476     Document Type: Article

References (5)

1. Burton RC, Bell RJ, Thiagarajah G, Stevenson C. Adjuvant therapy, not mammographic screening, accounts for most of the observed breast cancer specific mortality reductions in Australian women since the national screening program began in 1991. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2011; 29 Sep [Epub ahead of print].
2. Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG). Effects of chemotherapy and hormonal therapy for early breast cancer on recurrence and 15 year survival: an overview of the randomized trials. Lancet 2005; 365: 1687-1717.
3. Gotzsche PC, Nielsen M. Screening for breast cancer with mammography. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2011; (1): CD001877.
4. Morrell S, Barratt A, Irwig L, et al. Estimates of overdiagnosis of invasive breast cancer associated with screening mammography. Cancer Causes Control 2010; 21: 275-282.
5. Richards M. An independent review is under way. BMJ 2011; 343: d6843.