Mammography
DEMammographie
Mammography is a low-dose X-ray image of the breast (an effective dose of roughly 0.4 mSv per two-view, both-sides study). It is the only method with randomized-trial evidence for cutting breast-cancer deaths, which is why you may be invited to screen regularly. The 2024 USPSTF recommendation (Grade B) advises screening every two years for women aged 40 to 74. That lowered the start age from 50, citing CISNET modeling that earlier screening cuts deaths and narrows racial disparities. For women 75 and older, and for added ultrasound or MRI in dense breasts (BI-RADS C/D), the evidence stays Grade I (insufficient). The German Mammographie-Screening-Programm offers two-yearly screening to women aged 50 to 75. (The upper limit rose from 69 to 75 on 1 July 2024, after a G-BA/IQWiG benefit assessment.) The harms include false positives, overdiagnosis (especially DCIS), and radiation-induced cancer, at very low absolute risk.
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Sources
- Nicholson WK, Silverstein M, Wong JB, et al.. (2024). Screening for Breast Cancer: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. *JAMA*doi:10.1001/jama.2024.5534
- Trentham-Dietz A, Chapman CH, Jayasekera J, et al.. (2024). Collaborative Modeling to Compare Different Breast Cancer Screening Strategies: A Decision Analysis for the US Preventive Services Task Force. *JAMA*doi:10.1001/jama.2023.24766
- Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss (G-BA). (2023). Beschluss des Gemeinsamen Bundesausschusses über eine Änderung der Krebsfrüherkennungs-Richtlinie und der Richtlinie für organisierte Krebsfrüherkennungsprogramme: Anhebung der oberen Altersgrenze im Mammographie-Screening-Programm auf 75 Jahre