The debate over screening mammography continues, with Swedish investigators giving mammography a boost, particularly for women aged 55 and over. The results of a study published in The Lancet this week found a 21% reduction in breast cancer mortality among women who underwent breast cancer screening.
Dr. Lennarth Nystrom and colleagues from the University of Umea analyzed data from four randomized mammography trials in Sweden through 1996. These trials included information for 247,000 women based on records from the Swedish Cancer and Cause of Death Registers. The average follow-up time for the trials was 15.8 years.
According to the authors’ analysis, there were 511 deaths from breast cancer in 1,864,770 women-years in the groups of women who had mammograms versus 584 breast cancer deaths in 1,688,400 women-years in the control groups (those who were not invited for screening).
At 33%, the reduction was most significant in women who were aged 60-69 when they entered the trials. There also were statistically significant effects in other age groups, although not in women aged 50-54 years (5% risk reduction).
In an accompanying commentary, Dr. Karen Gelmon from the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, Canada said that the results of this study should encourage women to seek out mammography services despite the current controversy.
Most recently, a meta-analysis out of Denmark concluded that there is no proof that screening mammography reduces mortality. Last month, an advisory panel to the National Cancer Institute sided with the Danish researchers, but the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that women over the age of 40 undergo screening mammography every one to two years.
The outcome of this latest study bolsters "the advantageous effect of breast screening on breast cancer mortality...the recent criticism is misleading and unfounded," Nystrom said.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writersMarch 15, 2002
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Reassessment confirms: Screening mammography has no survival benefit, October 19, 2001
Swedish trials reiterate mammography’s effectiveness for most women, May 8, 2001
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