Screening Mammography for Women Age 40 to 49 Years
Authors: Daniel B. Kopans
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2007)

Letters20 November 2007Screening Mammography for Women Age 40 to 49 YearsDaniel B. Kopans, MDDaniel B. Kopans, MDFrom Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-147-10-200711200-00017 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Despite their stated goal of providing women with facts so that they can make informed decisions about mammography screening, the Clinical Efficacy Assessment Subcommittee of the American College of Physicians (1) has actually done just the opposite and has provided dangerously misleading and scientifically unjustified misinformation on the subject. They are clearly uninformed about the topic of mammography screening. A clear, significant decrease in breast cancer deaths is evident in screening women beginning at age 40 years—both from randomized, controlled trials, as well as when screening is introduced into the general population.The age of 50 years ...References1. Qaseem A, Snow V, Sherif K, Aronson M, Weiss KB, Owens DK, et al. Screening mammography for women 40 to 49 years of age: a clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2007;146:511-5. [PMID: 17404353] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Kopans DB. Bias in the medical journals: a commentary. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2005;185:176-7. [PMID: 15972420] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Kopans DB. Informed decision making: age of 50 is arbitrary and has no demonstrated influence on breast cancer screening in women. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2005;185:177-82. [PMID: 16060005] MedlineGoogle Scholar4. Kopans DB, Moore RH, McCarthy KA, Hall DA, Hulka C, Whitman GJ, et al. Biasing the interpretation of mammography screening data by age grouping: nothing changes abruptly at age 50. Breast J. 1998;4:139-45. CrossrefGoogle Scholar5. Kopans DB. The breast cancer screening controversy: lessons to be learned [Editorial]. J Surg Oncol. 1998;67:143-50. [PMID: 9530883] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Kopans DB, Halpern E, Hulka CA. Statistical power in breast cancer screening trials and mortality reduction among women 40-49 years of age with particular emphasis on the National Breast Screening Study of Canada. Cancer. 1994;74:1196-203. [PMID: 8055437] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Kopans DB, Feig SA. The Canadian National Breast Screening Study: a critical review. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1993;161:755-60. [PMID: 8372752] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Tarone RE. The excess of patients with advanced breast cancer in young women screened with mammography in the Canadian National Breast Screening Study. Cancer. 1995;75:997-1003. [PMID: 7842421] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoScreening Mammography for Women 40 to 49 Years of Age: A Clinical Practice Guideline from the American College of Physicians Amir Qaseem , Vincenza Snow , Katherine Sherif , Mark Aronson , Kevin B. Weiss , Douglas K. Owens , and Screening Mammography for Women Age 40 to 49 Years Amir Qaseem and Vincenza Snow Metrics Cited byThe 20-year effort to reduce access to mammography screening: Historical facts dispute a commentary in CancerThe 2009 US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Guidelines are not Supported by Science: The Scientific Support for Mammography Screening 20 November 2007Volume 147, Issue 10Page: 740-741KeywordsBreast cancerCancer screeningConflicts of interestDeath ratesMammographyStatistical data ePublished: 20 November 2007 Issue Published: 20 November 2007 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2007 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...