Early Mammography Screening Reduces Risk of Developing Fatal Breast Cancer

Participation in breast cancer screening substantially decreases the risk of having fatal breast cancer, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal CANCER.// For the analysis, László Tabár, MD, of Falun Central Hospital, Sweden, Stephen Duffy, MSc, of the 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 ten years of diagnosis, comparing the findings in women who participated in recommended mammography screening and those who did not.

The team found a 41 percent reduction in cancers that were fatal within ten years after diagnosis and a 25 percent reduction in the incidence of advanced breast cancer in women who participated in screening.

"This study shows that participation in breast cancer screening substantially reduces the risk of having fatal breast cancer. Because the comparison of participating with non-participating persons was contemporaneous--with mammography screening and breast cancer treatment belonging to the same time period--it is not affected by potential changes in the treatment of breast cancer over time," said Dr. Duffy.

Dr. Tabár stressed that participating in breast cancer screening confers a reduced risk of dying from breast cancer above and beyond what is obtainable with current therapies in the absence of screening. "Some may believe that recent improvements in breast cancer treatment make early detection less important," he said. "Our study shows that nothing can replace finding breast cancer early."

Source-Eurekalert