The topic of routine screening mammography has become extremely
controversial in recent years, especially following publication
of a 2009 evidence review and subsequent U.S. Preventive
Services Task Force recommendation that mammography be
considered on an individual basis for women in their 40s, rather
than automatically recommending mammograms for all women in that
age group. A new study published in the New England Journal of
Medicine adds to the questioning of routine mammograms,
concluding that “whatever the mortality benefit, breast-cancer
screening involved a substantial harm of excess detection of
additional early-stage cancers that was not matched by a
reduction in late-stage cancers.” The authors looked at data on
how many women age 40 or older had screening mammograms and the
incidence of early and late stage breast cancers. The assumption
is that if widespread mammography is really helping to catch
cancers at earlier, presumably more treatable stages, we’ll see
fewer of those late stage breast can