Early mammography may reduce risk of fatal and advanced breast cancers

It is certainly important to evaluate the impact of participation in organized mammography service screening independently from changes in breast cancer treatment. This can be done by measuring the incidence of fatal breast cancer, which is based on the date of diagnosis and not on the date of death.

Researchers in an analysis of more than half a million women in Sweden have revealed that mammography screening reduces the rates of advanced and fatal breast cancers. The findings are published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS).

For the analysis, László Tabár, MD, of Falun Central Hospital, Sweden, Stephen Duffy, MSc, of Queen Mary University of London, and their colleagues examined data on nearly one-third of the women in Sweden who were eligible for mammography screening. Among these 549,091 women, the investigators calculated the rates of advanced breast cancers and cancers that were fatal within 10 years of diagnosis, comparing the findings in women who participated in recommended mammography screening and those who did not.