Breast Cancer Screening Studies
Canadian National Breast Screening Study
News: Flaws in the two Canadian “randomized” trials whose results formed the basis of the country’s breast screening recommendations are detailed in a research article published in the Journal of Medical Screening, The randomized trial of mammography screening that was not—A cautionary tale, authored by DB-i’s medical advisors Drs. Jean Seely and Paula Gordon, and Drs. Martin Yaffe, Shushiela Appavoo and Daniel Kopans. According to the authors, the trial results “should no longer be used in meta-analyses of screening nor to inform policies on breast cancer screening.”
European Study
A Swedish prospective study, Beneficial Effect of Consecutive Screening Mammography Examinations on Mortality from Breast Cancer: A Prospective Study, will be awarded the Margulis prize at RSNA as the outstanding paper published in Radiology this past year. The study reports on the importance of regular, consecutive breast screening schedules to reduce premature deaths from breast cancer. Conclusion, “Women participating in the last two breast cancer screening examinations prior to breast cancer diagnosis had the largest reduction in breast cancer death. Missing either one of the last two examinations conferred a significantly higher risk.”