Routine mammograms do not reduce the incidence of late-stage breast cancer detection and may result in significant overdiagnosis of early breast cancers.
Routine mammograms do not reduce the incidence of late-stage breast cancer detection and may result in significant overdiagnosis of early breast cancers, according to a study published in the April 3 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. Some doctors have been expressing concern that such overdiagnosis may cause unnecessary stress and medical procedures, which have risks of their own.
In 1996, Norway began a 10-year rollout of the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening program for women ages 50 through 69. Researchers analyzed data from 39,888 women with invasive breast cancer; 7,793 had been diagnosed during the screening program. The results showed that an estimated 15 percent to 25 percent of breast cancers (1,169 to 1,948 women) were overdiagnosed.
In addition, the researchers estimated that for every 2,500 women who were invited to be screened, 2,470 to 2,474 will never be diagnosed with breast cancer and 2,499 will never die from breast cancer. On the other hand, six to 10 women will be overdiagnosed and be treated for breast cancer that may never have needed treatment to begin with.
“Mammography might not be appropriate for use in breast cancer screening because it cannot distinguish between progressive and non-progressive cancer,” said lead author Mette Kalager, a visiting scientist at Harvard School of Public Health and a researcher at the Telemark Hospital in Norway.
"Radiologists have been trained to find even the smallest of tumors in a bid to detect as many cancers as possible to be able to cure breast cancer. However, the present study adds to the increasing body of evidence that this practice has caused a problem for women - diagnosis of breast cancer that wouldn't cause symptoms or death."
Can Photon-Counting CT be an Alternative to MRI for Assessing Liver Fat Fraction?
March 21st 2025Photon-counting CT fat fraction evaluation offered a maximum sensitivity of 81 percent for detecting steatosis and had a 91 percent ICC agreement with MRI proton density fat fraction assessment, according to new prospective research.
The Reading Room Podcast: Current Perspectives on the Updated Appropriate Use Criteria for Brain PET
March 18th 2025In a new podcast, Satoshi Minoshima, M.D., Ph.D., and James Williams, Ph.D., share their insights on the recently updated appropriate use criteria for amyloid PET and tau PET in patients with mild cognitive impairment.
Strategies to Reduce Disparities in Interventional Radiology Care
March 19th 2025In order to help address the geographic, racial, and socioeconomic barriers that limit patient access to interventional radiology (IR) care, these authors recommend a variety of measures ranging from increased patient and physician awareness of IR to mobile IR clinics and improved understanding of social determinants of health.
AI-Initiated Recalls After Screening Mammography Demonstrate Higher PPV for Breast Cancer
March 18th 2025While recalls initiated by one of two reviewing radiologists after screening mammography were nearly 10 percent higher than recalls initiated by an AI software, the AI-initiated recalls had an 85 percent higher positive predictive value for breast cancer, according to a new study.