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Adequacies and inadequacies of breast examinations by physicians in mass screening
Author(s) -
Venet Lours,
Strax Philip,
Venet Wanda,
Shapiro Sam
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197112)28:6<1546::aid-cncr2820280630>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - medicine , mammography , breast cancer , medical physics , cancer
Preliminary findings in a mass screening program for breast cancer give hope that repetitive breast examinations by physicians, together with mammography, will result in a lowered mortality from this disease. A random sample of 31,000 “study” women, aged 40–64, and a similarly constituted “control” group have been under observation. Among the women screened, it has been found that clinical and radiologic examinations contribute independently to case detection, that the clinical examination is effective at all ages, and that mammography's effectiveness is greatest in women aged 50 and over. A substantially lower 3½‐year case fatality rate has occurred in the study group as contrasted with the control group. To date, the effect on mortality is most noticeable for women aged 50–59 at diagnosis, follow‐up must continue for as much as 10 years to determine whether this reduction in deaths will be maintained.