A study from 6 European countries published in the British Medical Journal indicated that screening mammograms had no effect on mortality from breast cancer. The study compared similar countries that were much more aggressive in performing the screening procedure to those who were not. In all three cases, there was no improvement in outcomes attributable to increased surveillance. Since mammograms carry extra risk from radiation with compression and they detect only cancers that are already present, breast thermograms might be a preferable screening tool. There is no risk from the latter, and they detect the tendency toward cancer before the disease actually develops.
From news release in the Toledo Blade, August 8, 2011.
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