The benefits and harms of breast cancer screening: an independent review

The breast cancer screening programmes in the United Kingdom currently invite women aged 50-70 years for screening mammography every 3 years. Since the time the screening programmes were established, there has been debate, at times sharply polarised, over the magnitude of their benefit and harm, and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of cancer Vol. 108; no. 11; pp. 2205 - 2240
Main Authors: MARMOT, M. G, ALTMAN, D. G, CAMERON, D. A, DEWAR, J. A, THOMPSON, S. G, WILCOX, M
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basingstoke Nature Publishing Group 11.06.2013
Subjects:
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Breast cancer
Breast Neoplasms - diagnosis
Breast Neoplasms - mortality
Breast Neoplasms - prevention & control
Diagnostic Errors
Early Detection of Cancer - adverse effects
Early Detection of Cancer - methods
Early Detection of Cancer - statistics & numerical data
Evidence-Based Medicine
Female
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Humans
Mammary gland diseases
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Multiple tumors. Solid tumors. Tumors in childhood (general aspects)
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Risk Assessment
Tumors
United Kingdom - epidemiology
United Kingdom > UK
Mammary gland diseases
Breast disease
Cancerology
Breast cancer
Malignant tumor
Review
Medical screening
Bibliographic review
Cancer
ISSN:0007-0920, 1532-1827, 1532-1827
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The breast cancer screening programmes in the United Kingdom currently invite women aged 50-70 years for screening mammography every 3 years. Since the time the screening programmes were established, there has been debate, at times sharply polarised, over the magnitude of their benefit and harm, and the balance between them. The expected major benefit is reduction in mortality from breast cancer. The major harm is overdiagnosis and its consequences; overdiagnosis refers to the detection of cancers on screening, which would not have become clinically apparent in the woman's lifetime in the absence of screening. Professor Sir Mike Richards, National Cancer Director, England, and Dr Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Research UK, asked Professor Sir Michael Marmot to convene and chair an independent panel to review the evidence on benefits and harms of breast screening in the context of the UK breast screening programmes. The panel, authors of this report, reviewed the extensive literature and heard testimony from experts in the field who were the main contributors to the debate. 85 references
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ObjectType-Review-3
content type line 23
ObjectType-Article-2
ObjectType-Feature-1
ISSN:0007-0920
1532-1827
1532-1827
DOI:10.1038/bjc.2013.177