Mammogram, ma’am?
Researchers from Denmark have reported that one-third of women may be unnecessarily treated for breast cancer as a result of public screening programs that over-diagnose the disease. The results of this study appeared in an early online publication in the British Medical Journal on July 9, 2009.
They analyzed breast cancer trends in the years before and after the initiation of government-run mammography screening programs in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden and Norway. The data covered a period of at least seven years prior to screening and seven years after screening had been implemented.
The results indicated that one in three women who were identified as having breast cancer did not actually need to be treated because some cancers grow too slowly to affect the patient. Because cancer treatment often causes harmful side effects and can be physically and emotionally stressful for patients, not all patients benefit from undergoing treatment.
These researchers concluded that “the increased incidence of breast cancer was closely related to the introduction of screening.”
The study is triggering some lively discussion including the UK Daily News article about the pros and cons of breast cancer screening.
