Does Screening Mammography Save Lives?

The utility of screening mammography is controversial, particularly for women in their 40s. Investigators from two Boston hospitals assessed mammographic history and cause of death in women who died following invasive breast cancer diagnosed between 1990 and 1999. Interval cancers were defined as symptomatic or palpable tumors presenting <2 years after the prior screening mammogram.

Among 609 deaths from confirmed breast cancer, 29% occurred in women who had been screened (19% screen-detected cancers, 10% interval cancers) and 71% occurred in unscreened women (6% diagnosed >2 years after the last mammogram, 65% never screened). Among women who died from breast cancer versus other causes, median age at diagnosis was 49 versus 72. The authors …