This is NOT an anti-mammography website. We intend to post the pros and cons of this diagnostic x-ray exam. We DO intend to appeal to the scientific community to reconsider mammograpy in the world of breast screening and address the following questions:
1. Should x-ray radiation be used for primary intial screening of women annually? Or should this test be reserved for cases of suspicion from other non-invasive tests (Ultrasound, MRI, Thermography)?
2. Is this test creating more harm that good? Are iatrogenic cancers being created?
3. Is 83.3% sensitivity good enough to allow a test to be the GOLD STANDARD? Or should adjunctive testing like thermography be mandatory?
4. What type of screening test can be used for the 20,000 women each year who get cancer under the age of 40?
5. Can Americans leave behind the politics and economics embedded in the science of medicine to create an objective answer to this?
If you have an article that you would like to contribute (Pro or Con) please let us know.
Lancet. 1995 Jul 1;346(8966):29-32. |
Screening mammography and public health policy Since the benefit achieved is marginal, the harm caused is substantial, and the costs incurred are enormous, we suggest that public funding for breast cancer screening in any age group is not justifiable. Read More... |
Ann Intern Med. 2002 Sep 3;137(5 Part 1):305-12. |
The Canadian National Breast Screening Study-1: breast cancer mortality after 11 to 16 years of follow-up. After 11 to 16 years of follow-up, four or five annual screenings with mammography, breast physical examination, and breast self-examination had not reduced breast cancer mortality compared with usual community care after a single breast physical examination and instruction on breast self-examination ...Read More... |
Lancet. 2000 Jan 8;355(9198):129-34.
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Is screening for breast cancer with mammography justifiable? ...that for every 1000 women screened biennially throughout 12 years, one breast-cancer death is avoided whereas the total number of deaths is increased by six. Read More... |
| Canadian task force advises less frequent breast screening | November 21, 2011 -- A Canadian medical advisory group published guidelines on Monday for breast screening that recommend that women ages 50 to 74 receive mammography exams every two to three years rather than annually. The group also advised that women ages 40 to 49 not be routinely screened at all. Read More... |
N Engl J Med. 2007 Apr 5;356(14):1399-409.
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Influence of computer-aided detection on performance of screening mammography. |
NY Times |
New York Times on Mammograms and Radiation For decades, it was an article of medical faith: Get a mammogram; it could save your life. Now, seemingly overnight, that faith has been shaken. The mammogram — that yearly ritual for millions of American women — has become the focus of a bitter and unusually public scientific dispute that is being fought in the pages of medical journals and the columns of daily newspapers. Scientists, policy makers and politicians have scheduled meetings and Congressional hearings. Read More...
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