Overview on breast cancer screening

At first glance, organized breast cancer screening appears to be a good idea. It seems obvious to diagnose breast cancer earlier so that smaller tumors can be treated with a better chance of recovery. And the first clinical trials, which took place in the 1970s, seemed to confirm the interest of screening.
This has resulted in the implementation of systematic breast cancer screening programs in most countries. In France, this program was implemented in 2004 and is intended for women aged 50 to 74, who are invited to have a mammogram every 2 years.

With the implementation of mass screening and the benefit of hindsight, however, the situation quickly became less idyllic than hoped.
On the one hand, in real-life situations, the mortality reduction associated with screening is not as great as had been hoped and some studies even suggest that it might not exist.
On the other hand, with overdiagnosis, the negative effects of screening have begun to emerge. Although there is no consensus on the magnitude of these effects, it must be acknowledged that overdiagnosis is a significant problem.

A reduction in mortality that may be less significant than expected, overdiagnosis that may be more common than previously thought, there is enough to spark a debate about the value of systematic breast cancer screening and whether it should be continued or discontinued.
This debate is lively, and above all, it mingles information and propaganda, which makes it difficult to find a way around.
The goal of these information pages on screening is to provide everyone with as much neutral information as possible.

They are organized as follows:

• one-page overview on benefits of screening
  
  
• one page overview on risks associated with screening
  
  
• one page presenting the benefits / risk balance of screening
  
  
• one page explaining why screening does not work as well as hoped
  
  
• a page for those who are wondering: screening or no screening ?

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Dernière mise à jour le 12/09/2021