From U Chicago: Thoughtful article on breast cancer mammography screening. "Nobody said it would be easy"

J Natl Cancer Inst. 2012 Jul 17. [Epub ahead of print]

Screening Mammography: What Good Is It and How Can We Know If It Works?

Vannier MW.

Source

Affiliation of author: Department of Radiology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL.

"However, even if screening were 100% successful, if diagnosis and treatment were delayed or ineffective, the number of deaths might not be affected.

No, it is not simple to understand what benefits screening provides, and we should regard any generalizations with skepticism. If mortality reduction is not the principal benefit of screening, then what is?"