Impact of Mammography Detection on the Course of Breast Cancer in Women Aged 40–49 Years

Abstract

Increased mammography-detected breast cancer over time coincided with lower-stage disease detection resulting in reduced treatment and lower rates of recurrence, adding factors to consider when evaluating the benefits of mammography screening of women aged 40-49 years.

Racial Disparities in Immediate Breast Reconstruction After Mastectomy: Impact of State and Federal Health Policy Changes

“…These changes include improved physician and patient awareness regarding the psychological benefits of breast reconstruction, more widespread use of autologous reconstruction and thus additional reconstructive options available, and enhanced screening methods diagnosing more early stage breast cancers eligible for reconstruction. 27,30,31 Unfortunately we were not able to control for these confounding variables with our study design. Furthermore, although we excluded the years 1998-2000 from our analysis as a result of the many policy changes that occurred during those years, there may have been confounding effects resulting from the continued policy changes, such as extension of Medicaid coverage, implemented after the year 2000.…”

Real and artificial controversies in breast cancer screening

“…While it is important to discuss all aspects of screening asymptomatic women, potential harms included, the harms of not attending screening are not commonly discussed. According to a recent study, women not attending screening had significantly larger tumors, worse stage at diagnosis, and worse overall and disease specific survival [41]. This itself does not prove that screening reduces mortality from breast cancer: that was done by the randomized trials.…”

What Predicts an Advanced-Stage Diagnosis of Breast Cancer? Sorting Out the Influence of Method of Detection, Access to Care, and Biologic Factors

“…In recent years, observational studies have examined the impact of various factors on breast cancer stage at diagnosis: method of detection (9); race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic variables (23); and biomedical variables such as BMI (72). This article adopts the perspective that the most conceptually and statistically defensible approach to understanding the influence of each such factor is to study them in concert (Figs.…”

“…Screening mammography has been consistently associated with earlier-stage detection of breast cancer, both in clinical trials (3)(4)(5)(6)(7) and in day-to-day practice (8)(9)(10). This is notwithstanding important complicating factors, including disagreement about appropriate screening strategies (11,12) and variability in mammographic test sensitivity driven by certain biologic factors including mammographic breast density (13)(14)(15).…”