For example , mammography screening does not seem to create anxiety in women who are given a clear result after a mammogram .
The incidence of breast cancer and mortality increases with age , and the GDG extrapolated that the absolute health benefits are greater in women aged 45 to 49 than those aged 40 to 44 years .
However , for the 45- to 49-year age group , the higher breast cancer incidence and mortality compared with women between the ages of 40 and 44 , as well as observational evidence showing a greater benefit in this age group ( 33 ) , led the GDG to judge that the balance of health effects probably favors screening , although the required re sources for screening likely differ across setting s ( 34 , 35 ) .
Other EtD criteria also were generally in favor of implementing organized mammography screening in this age group .
Despite intensified efforts by the European Council since 2003 , the implementation of organized , population -based mammography screening is not uniform across Europe and depends greatly on the policies in place in different countries , the organization of health care , and available re sources ( 1 ) .
Since the last edition of the European Guidelines on Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis was published in 2006 ( 2 ) , new evidence regarding breast cancer and innovation in guideline methodology prompted the European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer ( ECIBC ) to develop new evidence -based recommendations ( in short , the European Breast Guidelines ) .
These guidelines inform women , health professionals , and policymakers about important questions related to organized mammography screening and breast cancer diagnosis , but recommendations may apply in context s in which organized screening programs are not in place .
Women generally consider these undesirable effects acceptable ( low certainty of evidence ) , and a systematic review suggested that women place a relatively low value on the psychosocial and physical effects of false-positive results and overdiagnosis ; however , some studies raised concerns about whether women fully underst and the result ing implication s ( 15 ) .
How Often Should Women Attend an Organized Mammography Screening Program ?
Canadian National Breast Screening Study: 1. Breast cancer detection and death rates among women aged 40 to 49 years.
OBJECTIVES To evaluate the efficacy of the combination of annual screening with mammography , physical examination of the breasts and the teaching of breast self-examination in reducing the rate of death from breast cancer among women aged 40 to 49 years on entry . DESIGN Individually r and omized controlled trial . SETTING Fifteen urban centres in Canada with expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer . PARTICIPANTS Women with no history of breast cancer and no mammography in the previous 12 months were r and omly assigned to undergo either  annual mammography and physical examination ( MP group ) or usual care after an initial physical examination ( UC group ) . The 50,430 women enrolled from January 1980 through March 1985 were followed for a mean of 8.5 years . DATA COLLECTION Derived from the participants by initial and annual self-administered question naires , from the screening examinations , from the patients ' physicians , from the provincial cancer registries and by record linkage to the Canadian National Mortality Data Base . Expert panels evaluated histologic and death data . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Rates of referral from screening , rates of detection of breast cancer from screening and from community care , nodal status , tumour size , and rates of death from all causes and from breast cancer . RESULTS Over 90 % of the women in each group attended the screening sessions or returned the annual question naires , or both , over years 2 to 5 . The characteristics of the women in the two groups were similar . Compared with the Canadian population , the participants were more likely to be married , have fewer children , have more education , be in a professional occupation , smoke less and have been born in North America . The rate of screen-detected breast cancer on first examination was 3.89 per 1000 in the MP group and 2.46 per 1000 in the UC group ; more node-positive tumours were found in the MP group than in the UC group . During years 2 through 5 the ratios of observed to expected cases of invasive breast cancer were 1.26 in the MP group and 1.02 in the UC group . Of the women with invasive breast cancer through to 7 years , 191 and 157 women in the MP and UC groups respectively had no node involvement , 55 and 43 had one to three nodes involved , 47 and 23 had four or more nodes involved , and 38 and 49 had an unknown nodal status . There were 38 deaths from breast cancer in the MP group and 28 in the UC group . The ratio of the proportions of death from breast cancer in the MP group compared with those in the UC group was 1.36 ( 95 % confidence interval 0.84 to 2.21 ) . The survival rates were similar in the two groups . The highest survival rate occurred among women whose cancer had been detected by mammography alone . CONCLUSION The study was internally valid , and there was no evidence of r and omization bias . Screening with yearly mammography and physical examination of the breasts detected considerably more node-negative , small tumours than usual care , but it had no impact on the rate of death from breast cancer up to 7 years ' follow-up from entry
For example , mammography screening does not seem to create anxiety in women who are given a clear result after a mammogram .
The incidence of breast cancer and mortality increases with age , and the GDG extrapolated that the absolute health benefits are greater in women aged 45 to 49 than those aged 40 to 44 years .
However , for the 45- to 49-year age group , the higher breast cancer incidence and mortality compared with women between the ages of 40 and 44 , as well as observational evidence showing a greater benefit in this age group ( 33 ) , led the GDG to judge that the balance of health effects probably favors screening , although the required re sources for screening likely differ across setting s ( 34 , 35 ) .
Other EtD criteria also were generally in favor of implementing organized mammography screening in this age group .
Despite intensified efforts by the European Council since 2003 , the implementation of organized , population -based mammography screening is not uniform across Europe and depends greatly on the policies in place in different countries , the organization of health care , and available re sources ( 1 ) .
Since the last edition of the European Guidelines on Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis was published in 2006 ( 2 ) , new evidence regarding breast cancer and innovation in guideline methodology prompted the European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer ( ECIBC ) to develop new evidence -based recommendations ( in short , the European Breast Guidelines ) .
These guidelines inform women , health professionals , and policymakers about important questions related to organized mammography screening and breast cancer diagnosis , but recommendations may apply in context s in which organized screening programs are not in place .
Women generally consider these undesirable effects acceptable ( low certainty of evidence ) , and a systematic review suggested that women place a relatively low value on the psychosocial and physical effects of false-positive results and overdiagnosis ; however , some studies raised concerns about whether women fully underst and the result ing implication s ( 15 ) .
How Often Should Women Attend an Organized Mammography Screening Program ?