Study confirms that screening reduces deaths from breast cancer
Publication Date:11/01/2008
Introduction
Being screened for breast cancer reduces a woman's chances of dying from the disease by nearly half, shows a study from the national screening programme in East Anglia.
What do we know already?
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Every year about 44,000 women are told they have breast cancer.
Lots of studies have shown that breast screening with X-ray mammography reduces deaths from breast cancer. This is the reason that the UK set up a breast cancer screening service in 1989. Since then all women aged between 50 and 70 have been offered a mammogram (an X-ray photograph of the breast) every three years. The programme is being extended over the next few years. By 2012 all women aged 47 to 73 will be invited for breast cancer screening.
But the conditions during a research trial might be very different to those in a national screening programme. For example, the equipment used may be different or women may be screened more or less often. It might also be the case that the doctors and nurses in a research study may have more expertise than those who run a local screening service, or vice versa. For these reasons it's important to monitor what happens to women who are screened in national programmes: to check that they are actually benefiting from taking part. The present study, which looked at the national screening programme in East Anglia, set out to do exactly that.
What does the new study say?
The new study found that women who attended for screening in East Anglia were about 60 percent less likely to die from breast cancer than those who were not screened. But the researchers said they needed to adjust this figure because the women who chose not be screened may have had poorer health than those who were screened. After they did this, they found that women who kept their appointment for screening had a 48 percent lower risk of dying from breast cancer.
Tell me more about the study's findings
The study looked at 284 women from East Anglia who had died from breast cancer after 1995 and 568 women of a similar age. All the women had been invited to have a mammogram at least once. The researchers looked back to see which women had actually taken up this offer and what had happened to them. They found that those who took up the offer of a mammogram were less likely to die from breast cancer than those who didn't have one.
Where does the study come from?
The study was done by researchers from the charity Cancer Research UK, the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London and the University of Cambridge. It was published in the British Journal of Cancer.
How reliable are the findings?
This study was done well. It looked at what happened to women who took part in the national breast screening programme in one part of the UK. The programme had been running for six years before the researchers did the study, which is enough time for women to been invited for screening and to have had at least one mammogram. The researchers also took account of the fact that some women may have had better health then others. If they hadn't done this then the effects of the programme might have looked better than they actually are.
What does this mean for me?
If you're not sure whether to take up an offer to be screened for breast cancer then this study is important for you. It shows that keeping your appointment for a mammogram can reduce the chances of dying from breast cancer by about half.
Most women who are screened don't have breast cancer. Treatments for breast cancer are very good nowadays, and women with breast cancer tend to live longer than they used to, because of the improvement in treatments.
Although the study looked at women who lived in East Anglia, the conditions of the breast screening programme are probably similar in other parts of the UK. So even if you don't live in East Anglia you can expect a similar amount of benefit from breast screening.
What should I do now?
If you're still unsure whether to have a mammogram you might want to speak to someone at your local screening centre. Ask your GP practice if you don't have the number.
From:
Allgood PC, Warwick J, Warren RML, et al. A case-control study of the impact of the East Anglian breast screening programme on breast cancer mortality. British Journal of Cancer. 2008; 98: 206-209.
To learn more about this condition, see our pages on breast cancer.
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