Plain Language Summary Mammography screening has been adopted in many countries and population health programs because randomized trials showed that it reduces the risk of dying from breast cancer. These randomized trials used screen-film mammography (SFM) which means that the…
Plain Language Summary Following successful treatment of first breast cancers, women remain at risk of cancer recurrence in the treated breast and also new cancers in the other breast (second breast cancers), which are associated with increased rates of cancer…
Plain Language Summary Women with certain genetic mutations (eg, BRCA1 and BRCA2 ) or with familial risk (without a known gene mutation but with a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer) are at an elevated risk of developing…
Plain Language Summary Mammography is the only screening test that reduces death from breast cancer in randomized trials. However, it does not detect all cancers that are present. One of the reasons that mammography misses cancers is that dense areas…
Plain Language Summary Women in their 40s face conflicting breast cancer screening guidelines that are based on different interpretations of research and considerations of the benefits and harms of screening. How well mammography screening reduces death from breast cancer was…
Plain Language Summary It is not certain if mammograms benefit women aged 70 or older. While the chance of breast cancer increases with age, breast cancers tend to grow more slowly among older women. Experts think that a small breast…
Plain Language Summary There is widespread interest in trying to change the interval at which women undergo breast cancer screening based on their actual risk of breast cancer. This risk-based screening may improve the proportions of breast cancer detected early…
Plain Language Summary Overdiagnosed breast cancer is breast cancer detected by screening that would not have caused any health problems had it been left undetected and untreated. Without screening, it would not ever have been detected. Overdiagnosed breast cancers are…
Plain Language Summary Microsimulation is a process where complex processes are modeled on computers programmed to combine information about separate components of the process into an overall picture. For breast cancer screening this means combining information about the epidemiology of…
Plain Language Summary The benefits and harms of breast cancer screening have been debated for many years. One reason this debate continues is continuing uncertainty about the magnitude of these benefits and harms. In the past, decision makers have relied…