News Finding: They concluded that population-based mortality statistics for England do not show a past benefit of breast cancer screening.
Paper Finding: We conclude that population-based mortality statistics, at least in England, do not show a past benefit of breast cancer screening.
News Context: They concluded that population-based mortality statistics for England do not show a past benefit of breast cancer screening. The new research contrasts with the findings of an independent review commissioned by the Department of Health published in 2012 which concluded that there was a 20% relative reduction in mortality from breast cancer in women invited to screening. The review also found that for each breast cancer death prevented, about three over-diagnosed cases will be identified and treated.
Paper Context: In older age groups, a smaller percentage of breast cancer deaths are coded as the underlying cause (for example, 78% in women aged 75-84 years), and figures on breast cancer mortality based on underlying cause alone should be treated with greater caution. We conclude that population-based mortality statistics, at least in England, do not show a past benefit of breast cancer screening. While this does not rule out a benefit at the level of individual women, these effects are not large enough to be detected at the population-level.