Breast Cancer Screening Debate

Breast cancer screening debate

Is screening for breast cancer as effective as was previously thought in identifying disease? A study released this week put to bed some rumours that more people are treated un-necessarily than are helped by screening, showing that for every 2 people correctly identified and treated for breast cancer, one is treated un-necessarily.

Breast Cancer Screening

On the other side of the debate, this article from Denmark, reported in the NHS news says that the benefits are not as great as were previously thought.

Breast Screening Benefits Not Obvious

Then on the other hand there's the fact that at present, breast screening and mammograph is a very uncomfortable process, I was able to feel first hand how much pressure is necessary for a good image by putting my fist in a mammography screener and I remember being surprised as to how hard it presses down.

Perhaps the answer is more self-screening at home, I wonder how many people actually do this, it would be interesting to see what the uptake is like in Tayside (I predict quite low). Should breast examination be more routinely carried out as a physical examination in women age 50 - 70? Again I don't think most women of this age on a medical ward in Ninewells have this examination.