Mortality not reduced by mammography, said University of Toronto study.(Brief Article)

2002 OCT 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Women in their 40s who receive annual mammography screening do not have a better chance of surviving breast cancer than those who receive usual care from their personal physician, report University of Toronto researchers in the Canadian National Breast Screening Study-1.

"After an average 13-year follow-up, our research shows no mortality benefit from mammography screening in this age group in spite of the fact that mammography diagnosed far more cancers," said Dr. Anthony Miller, a professor emeritus in the Faculty of Medicine's public health sciences department and lead author of the study in the September 3, 2002, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. "This is the only trial to date specifically designed to evaluate breast screening among women aged 40 to 49."

The study involved 50,000 volunteers in their 40s, recruited from 1980 to 1985, who were not pregnant, had no previous breast cancer diagnosis, and had not had a mammogram in the previous 12 months. Participating at 15 screening centers across Canada, the women were randomly assigned to one of two groups - 25,214 received four or five annual mammography screenings and breast physical examinations and 25,216 women received a single breast physical ...