Objectives:The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of service screening, as provided by the NHS breast screening programme, on breast cancer mortality in Wales. Furthermore, we wished to ascertain whether a reduction in breast cancer mortality consistent with that observed in the randomised screening trials was being achieved. Setting:The NHS Breast Screening Programme in Wales, managed by Breast Test Wales, with headquarters in Cardiff. Methods:A case-control study design with 1:2 matching. The cases were deaths from breast cancer in women aged 50-75 years at diagnosis who were diagnosed after the instigation of screening in 1991 and who died after 1998. The controls were women who had not died of breast cancer or any other condition during the study period. One was from the same GP practice and the other from a different GP practice within the same district, matched by year of birth.Results: Based on 419 cases, the odds ratio for risk of death from breast cancer for women who have attended at least one routine screen compared to those never screened was 0.62 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.47-0.82, p=0.001). After excluding cases diagnosed prior to 1995 and adjusting for self-selection bias, the estimated mortality reduction was 25% (odds ratio=0.75, 95% CI 0.49-1.14, p=0.09). Conclusion:The Breast Test Wales screening programme is achieving a reduction in breast cancer mortality of 25% in women attending for screening, which is consistent with the results of the randomized controlled trials of mammographic screening.

Twenty-five years after its first description the p53 protein has been shown to play a key role in both cancer and ageing. The p53 protein is activated by many different stress pathways, including oncogene action and DNA damage. The elucidation of the p53 response, which is aberrant in most cancers (including breast, lung, stomach and colorectal cancer), has provided many new targets for drug development and p53 gene therapy is now approved in China. In tumours where p53 is mutant small molecules may be able to restore its function. In many tumours the wild-type p53 gene remains intact but its function is compromised by loss of upstream signalling pathways or downstream effectors.A key regulator is Mdm2, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, that binds and ubiquitinates p53 and directs its degradation via the proteosome. Small potent peptides that can block the p53 Mdm2 interaction and activate the p53 response have been described. Growing selections of lead small molecules that mimic the action of these peptides have also been recently discovered. Cell-based screens have revealed that inhibitors of nuclear export and inhibitors of transcription (one of which is in clinical trial) can also activate the p53 response therapeutically. The pharmaceutical regulation of the p53 pathway offers great hope for improved treatment of human cancer. 2Mammographic screening with a breast cancer prevention programme Because of the heterogeneity of breast cancer from nodule to nodule, single findings cannot achieve the sensitivity or the negative predictive value necessary to identify a low-risk group that can be offered the option of follow-up (ACR Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System [BIRADS] 3 group). However, by using multiple findings in a strict algorithm, such a group can be identified. It is also important to keep in mind that breast cancer can be heterogeneous within an individual nodule. Part of the nodule may have circumscribed features that simulate a benign lesion, while another part may be spiculated and obviously malignant. Only by scanning the whole surface and substance of the nodule in two orthogonal planes (radial and anti-radial) can the presence of suspicious findings be excluded, and if there is a mixture of benign and suspicious findings, the benign findings should be ignored.These studies show that sonography is useful in the characterization of solid breast masses. Characterizing solid breast nodules into BIRADS categories defines carcinomas that might have been missed clinically or mammographically. It identifies a BIRADS 3 group that has far less than 2% risk of being malignant and can offer the patient the option of followup rather than biopsy. Currently, approximately 80% of patients with BIRADS 3 solid nodules are electing to be followed rather than to undergo biopsy. It improves the accuracy of the diagnosis of malignant breast lesions. Importantly, it also accurately defines a population of benign solid breast lesions that do not require biopsy when strict sonographic criteria of benignity are present.To a...

No abstract