title: Mammography screening: a current controversy.
abstract: Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer in women in the United States and the second leading cause of cancer deaths. Over the past several decades, there has been a concerted effort to detect and diagnose breast cancer in women at early stages using mammography, and a simultaneous increase in lawsuits filed against physicians for a delay in the diagnosis of the disease. Even though mammography screening has become a standard of care for middle-aged and older women, recent questions have been raised about the efficacy of breast cancer screening. After carefully reviewing the literature on this subject, I conclude that routine screening mammography in women older than 50 is an effective means of identifying early breast cancers and significantly reduces mortality.
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D015996:Survival Rate