Breast cancer awareness ribbon, from Yongjiet on Flickr
An independent panel of experts, led by Sir Michael Marmot (UCL Epidemiology and Public Health), has concluded that routine breast cancer screening reduces the risk of dying from breast cancer, but also results in overdiagnosis. The findings are published in a Review in The Lancet . When breast cancer is detected by screening, it generally allows for earlier treatment and an improved prognosis for the patient. However, concerns have recently been raised about overdiagnosis - where screening identifies a tumour, which is consequently treated by surgery, and often radiotherapy and medication, but which would have remained undetected for the rest of the woman's life without causing illness if it had not been detected by screening. The panel, led by Sir Michael Marmot, Director of the Institute of Health Equity at UCL, was set up by The National Cancer Director for England, Professor Sir Mike Richards, and Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Research UK, to provide an independent review of the evidence for the benefits and harms of breast cancer screening in the UK. The panel set out to analyse the best existing evidence for the effectiveness of breast cancer screening and the risks of over-diagnosis. They performed a meta-analysis of eleven randomised controlled trials assessing whether breast cancer screening results in fewer deaths due to the disease, compared to when no screening takes place.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
