Another side of the screening controversy was noted in an October study that questioned the value of widespread use of mammography for cancer screening – and which was in turn challenged by a number of cancer and radiology experts.

The study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, concluded that “women were more likely to have breast cancer that was over-diagnosed than to have earlier detection of a tumor that was destined to become large."


The study examined U.S. government cancer statistics in the SEER database, covering women's health from 1975 to 2012, to measure the effectiveness of screening since it became widely adopted in the 1980s.

The study's authors, led by Dartmouth Institute of Health Policy and Clinical Practice's Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, concluded that “the reduction in breast cancer mortality after the implementation of screening mammography was predominantly the result of improved systemic therapy.”

The Welch data “do not support the authors’ conclusion that improved therapy is more key to breast cancer survival than mammography screening. Nor does the data support that mammography use leads to rampant over-diagnosis,” according to a release issued by the American College of Radiology (ACR), adding that “the baseline assumption on which the conclusions are based is contradicted by the primary author’s previous papers and well-established research.”

"These conclusions are bold, attention-grabbing, and should be taken with a grain of salt — actually, an entire spoonful," the American Cancer Society's chief cancer control officer, Dr. Richard Wender stated.

Back to HCB News

X-Ray Homepage