Routine breast cancer screenings can lead to unnecessary treatment, study says

Perhaps it's just a case of doctors being overly cautious to avoid lawsuits, but women who undergo routine breast cancer screenings in Britain tend to be over-diagnosed and forced into unnecessary treatment, claims the Nordic Cochrane Centre of Copenhagen, Denmark, in its review of the National Health Service's breast screening program. 

The review, which was published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, points out that of roughly 21,000 women between the ages of 50 and 69 who were diagnosed with breast cancer in Britain in 2007, one-third of those could be unnecessary diagnoses of benign ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)--precancerous lesions that appear in the milk ducts. The review argues that such over diagnosis has led to "grueling surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy," according to the Times Online. 

The review also criticizes the British Department of Health's annual review of the NHS's breast screening program, likening it to "propaganda" that "omits the harms" of creating an unnecessary diagnosis. The majority of physicians in Britain say that such screenings save 1,400 lives each year. 

This scenario in Britain is interesting considering the controversy that ensued in the U.S. last year when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended against routine mammograms for women in their 40s. The task force argued that the risks of false-positive results and unnecessary biopsies outweighed the benefits of early detection. A few weeks ago, breast imaging experts in the U.S. said women with an "average" risk of breast cancer should begin screening at age 40.

For more information:
- read this Times Online article

Related Article:
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